Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years
by Peace Writer v.2.5
Summary: The forgotten adventures of Hanabi Hyuga as she travels down the hard path of the ninja. With her teammates Kaji and Wasumaru at her side, she will have to overcome many challenges and obstacles to prove herself. Set during the timeskip.
1. A New Class, A New Adventure

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 1: A New Class, a New Adventure!

The sun was shining brightly to a new morning in Konohagakure. The golden rays reflected off of rooftops, decorating shadows with the greeting of dawn. The first thing to see the sunrise every morning was the great Hokage monument; the five guardian faces watching over the town as the first joyous rays met them. The light sounds of the morning birds were echoing through the air as dew drops fell from the green blades in the training fields. Shopkeepers step outside of their stores to enjoy the fresh, cool early breeze before preparing for work as their children run into the streets to play.

Another beautiful day in Konoha begins.

Just outside of the Ninja Training Academy, one of many carrier pigeons stopped on a tree for one of the blue-vested chuunin to receive. The Yamanaka flower shop opened its doors, revealing ruby roses, frail baby's breath, and sapphire violets among a vast variety of flora. The dough shop in town began its morning rounds; kneading and baking new pastries, the sweet fumes joining the sweet air.

The people walking calmly down roads, the dogs running through the streets, even the lowly insects crawling from underground get to enjoy a relaxing, warm sunrise.

"Hanabi-san!"

Hanabi Hyuga snapped out of her daydream and stood at attention. "Yes Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka, a light-faced chuunin marred by a horizontal scar on the bridge of his nose, said "Please recite Shinobi Rule number 2."

With a slight hint of resentment, she said clearly "A Shinobi must always be alert, ever mindful of danger."

"Or, to paraphrase for this situation, a student must always pay attention, ever mindful of the teacher," joked a vibrant boy with dark, spiky red hair sitting near the middle, drawing laughter from the other students.

"Alright, that's enough Kaji-san," said Iruka.

This was not the first time that Hanabi had been caught looking outside of the classroom using her Byakugan eyes. It wasn't that she was not interested in what Iruka-sensei had to teach, but after so many sunrises spent in class, she could not help but enjoy a few with her Byakugan.

And anyway, she already knew most of the things that Iruka-sensei had to teach, despite being the youngest in her class. She was after all, a Hyuga, and as a member of the main house, she was trained harder than any other student in the classroom. Indeed, the only reason she was here was because of the upcoming graduation exam, and one needed to attend the academy for at least a year to be able to participate. As she pushed some strands of her long, dark brown hair away from her face, she braced herself for what Iruka had already told her after each incident, and was surely about to repeat now.

A stern look on his face, Iruka told her "Now Hanabi-san, just because you're the top ranking student in this class does not mean you should become distracted during my lessons. You need to set a good example for your classmates."

"Yes Iruka-sensei," said Hanabi as she sat back down, her blank white eyes showing an allusion of embarrassment.

Addressing the rest of the class, Iruka said "Speaking of good examples, it's time for Transformation jutsu practice!"

Some students remained silent, but others let out groans of exasperations.

"Really? So early in the morning?" asked the same red-haired boy. "C'mon Iruka-sensei; can't it wait until after lunch?"

_"There goes Kaji again,"_thought Hanabi. Kaji Sogeki, whom many considered to be the class clown, hated sitting in the stuffy room. His red hair held up by a headband because he thought it 'looked cool', he was the kind of boy who craved action. For that matter, Hanabi didn't know what he was complaining about: aside from basic combat training, jutsu training was more exciting than listening to lectures and copying off of the blackboard.

"You're lucky I let you have lunch at all with that attitude! Thank you for volunteering, Kaji!" said an irritated Iruka as he motioned to a spot in front of the class. "You're first," said Iruka, eyes locked onto his most troublesome student.

"Tch', fine, I'll do it," Kaji laughed as he got out of his seat and jumped next to Iruka. Without hesitation, he flashed a simple hand-seal.

"Transformation jutsu!"

A cloud of white smoke enveloped Kaji as he began the transformation. Everyone waited for a split second as the smoke cleared.

And the room exploded in laughter as only a few of the students, and Iruka, did not chuckle at Kaji's transformation. Even Hanabi couldn't stifle a grin.

"Wha- what the hell is this?" Iruka stammered.

Where Kaji once stood was a man with Iruka's ninja vest and pants, even his face and scar. However, the man still had Kaji's spiky red hair. "I think it's an improvement, don'tcha think?" asked the smiling double as he winked and gave a thumbs-up.

A light-green haired girl in a long white dress next to Hanabi giggled "Isn't Kaji-kun the funniest guy you've ever seen?"

"Bet you wish he's going to be on your team, huh Madoka-san?" muttered Hanabi.

"Yes, don't you, Hanabi-chan?" asked Madoka, smiling at her classmate.

_"I sure hope not; I wouldn't want to get stuck with that," _thought Hanabi. Madoka Hayashi and Hanabi always sat next to each other in class. The only reason for this was that Hanabi was content with Madoka's convenient silence, and Madoka praised the robust Hanabi, looking up to her despite being older by a few years.

After the outburst, everyone tried to quiet down, but the anticipation of Iruka-sensei's tirade made it difficult.

"What kind of class do you think I'm running here Kaji?" exclaimed Iruka. "Do it again, correctly this time!"

"Alright, alright, calm down; it was just a joke Iruka-sensei," smiled the red-haired Iruka. "Transform!"

Another puff of smoke, and this time a perfect copy of Iruka was standing before the class, some of whom were still laughing.

"Heh, I did so well," boasted the duplicate. "I think I could take over the class like this, don'tcha think Iruka-sensei?"

"Yeah, yeah, just get back to your seat," growled Iruka as his doppelganger turned back into Kaji, who wore a wide grin.

After Kaji jumped back in his seat, Iruka scanned the classroom. "Alright, who haven't I called on yet? Hmm, how about Wasumaru-san?"

Hanabi shifted her gaze to a silent boy drawing something in one of the far corners of the room. At the sound of Iruka-sensei's half-suggestion, he looked up from his paper, black, wide eyes gazing at the source.

"_Wasumaru? That kid hasn't done anything all year. I doubt he'll start now," _she thought. Wasumaru Zakūusho is a pale, stoic boy in gray robes who, from Hanabi's recent memory, did not do anything except draw during classes. He seemed to know the shinobi rules as he was able to recite them whenever Iruka called on him, but he took to jutsu and combat training like a turtle would take to a footrace; no matter what the time was, Wasumaru was seen drawing on his seemingly endless supply of canvas.

And then there was his hair: almost as strange as his behavior, he had thick hair around the top of his head that was parted down the middle. His round face complemented his hair, which actually made him look somewhat handsome, if not for the fact that the left side of his hair was ghostly white and the other side was jet black.

"Hmm?" wondered Iruka as he looked towards the back of the class, "Wasumaru-san, what did you draw now?"

Still staring at Iruka, Wasumaru gently took his paper and revealed it to the class.

For the second time within a few minutes, the room exploded with gales of laughter: Wasumaru had sketched Kaji's first attempt at copying Iruka-sensei very accurately, complete with colorful red hair. Iruka was left speechless. "It does have a lifelike feeling to it, huh?" said Kaji, imitating the pose on the picture.

After most of the laughter died back down, Iruka could only say "Okay then Wasumaru-san, how about you show us your transformation jutsu?"

Putting his drawing back down, Wasumaru walked slowly from his seat in the back of the classroom to the front of the classroom. He stood at the center next to Iruka and stared at him.

"Any time you're ready," Iruka encouraged.

Wasumaru looked at some point in the back of the classroom, brought his hands up to make a simple hand-seal, and without any conviction at all, said "Transformation jutsu."

Whatever anyone expected to happen, it probably wasn't 'nothing at all'. But it was exactly that that occurred as a few seconds of stunned silence passed before the whole class laughed again.

"What was that?" laughed Kaji from his seat. "This far into the year, and that's still all you can do? Pathetic!"

"_Well, I guess it was foolish of me to expect anything else," _thought Iruka. Aloud, he said "Alright everyone, pipe down. Wasumaru-san; you can go back to your seat."

Without another word, Wasumaru calmly walked back to his seat in the back of the classroom. Hanabi thought from her seat_ "if Wasumaru could perform jutsu as well as he could draw, maybe he'd be at the top of the class instead. Oh well."_

Next to her, Madoka looked worried. "Poor Wasumaru-kun; he's been here for three years already, and that's still the best he can do."

Hanabi was confused. "Why is he still here then? If he can't perform jutsu, then becoming a ninja is an impossibility.

"I think his parents wanted him to come here," Madoka replied. "That's what I've heard anyway."

After Wasumaru sat back down, Iruka said "I think this is a good time for recess. But be warned; I expect everyone to work extra hard when you all come back. Dismissed." Not wanting to waste their precious time to rest, all of the kids made their way to the door to enjoy the morning.

* * *

It was a typical recess; some, like Hanabi, did solo training workouts like pushups or forms. Others, like most of the other girls in the class, stood around and talked with their friends about the latest gossip. No matter what one did to spend the recess however, everyone could agree that it was a fine day to be outside, and the one thing that dampened their spirits was the knowledge that they had to go back inside after half an hour.

Wearing her traditional sleeveless Hyuga training outfit, Hanabi was practicing her gentle fist style that was burned into her muscles by her father, Lord Hiashi. She was fighting invisible opponents gracefully, moving with the elegance of a dancer, and the purpose of a warrior.

She was just in the middle of parrying an invisible strike when she heard a voice from behind her: "Bang."

Eyes narrowed, she turned around to see who interrupted her form. "What a surprise," she said, feigning excitement. "Kaji."

"Heh, you gotta have better perception than that if you want to be a true shinobi," Kaji said mockingly. "If that was a real situation, you'd be dead."

"I have more perception than you can ever dream of," Hanabi replied with disdain. Activating her Byakugan for a second, she said "For instance, I see you're just a clone. You're really behind that tree, ten meters from this spot."

The Kaji in front of her vanished into thin air. And indeed, the real Kaji jumped from his hiding place behind the tree in front of the academy entrance to Hanabi's feet. "So, you saw through it, huh? As to be expected of someone from the Hyuga clan."

Kaji played this trick on Hanabi the most times out of every other classmate. She hoped this did not mean that he had taken a liking to her. As she went back to her forms, she said "If you used your chakra to train rather than spend it on this childish game, you probably would be better than me."

Stretching his arms behind his head, he replied "I'm already better than anyone else here. I'm the only one here who can perform the true shadow clone jutsu."

Not stopping her form, she retorted "The knowledge of jutsu does not determine one's power. Besides, how many clones can you actually make before you run out of chakra? One? Two? Hardly impressive, even if you are the only one out of us that can use it."

"Whatever gives me an advantage in the exams tomorrow," said Kaji. "I'd say the only one who can compete on my level is you,"

Stopping her form for a second time, Hanabi replied "Don't put me on the same level as you. Your exam scores are nowhere near my level."

"You mean all of those shinobi rules, right?" laughed Kaji. "Scholars don't win in battle; warriors do. I don't like to tell them what I'm made of; I show them."

"Seeing as how I outclass you in that regard as well, how am I on the same level as you?" Hanabi asked with a hint of a grin.

"Ah, your replies are sharp as kunai knives Hanabi-chan," Kaji said, holding his chest in mock pain. "Well, in any case, we'll see who's better than who come exam time."

_"I don't need to wait until the exam to see which of us is better, Kaji; I already know it's me,"_thought Hanabi.

Something else caught her attention as she went back to do her forms; two classmates were walking towards the far corner of the playground. At the corner of the playground, Hanabi saw Wasumaru, paying no attention to anything except what he was drawing. "Hmm?" she wondered. "What's Reiko and Hirosho doing?"

"Dunno," Kaji replied. "Ah well, not my problem if the kid can't defend himself."

But Hanabi clenched a fist. "I can't stand people who prey on the weak; it only shows how weak they are. I'm going to go help him," she said as she started walking towards her three classmates.

* * *

In his usual corner, Wasumaru was drawing with his collection of pastels that he keeps in a small, wooden box. Every day, he would draw what he felt like drawing. Today, he was drawing a tree just outside of the fence where five small birds were residing.

The picture was so simple; no complex colors or moving parts, other than the birds. But to Wasumaru, this picture must be given his full attention. Every detail must be captured; the leaves swaying in the breeze, the beetle crawling up the trunk, the mighty branches reaching towards the blue sky, the small white clouds above drifting with the wind. It was all so, serene, so calm.

"So, beautiful," Wasumaru whispered under his breath as he savored the sight of the calming scenery.

"Hey kid!"

Dirt had suddenly splashed onto his drawing. With wide eyes, Wasumaru looked up from his sullied work to see where the dirt had come from. He soon realized it was from a kick aimed by one of his classmates: a tall boy with a condescending sneer on his face, light brown hair that went down to his neck, and a black shirt with beige shorts. Wasumaru recognized him as Hirosho Nakagare.

The boy next to him was grinning at Wasumaru, mocking him. He had long gray hair that was cut diagonally in the front so that Wasumaru could only see one of his brown eyes. He was dressed with a light blue shirt with green shorts. Wasumaru recognized him as Reiko Yakusabe.

Hirosho laughed at Wasumaru and said "Hey, nice transformation jutsu today. I could almost make out a couple strands of your freakish hair changing!"

Reiko grinned along with his friend. "If you can't do a simple jutsu like that with the exam tomorrow, you might as well not show up."

Noticing the drawing on the ground, Hirosho bent over for a closer look. "What'cha doin' here? You like art little boy? Hah! You belong in an art school, not a school for ninjas! It does look half-decent though; maybe I'll just take this," he said as he reached for the drawing.

Before he could grab it however, Wasumaru said quietly "Leave me alone."

Reiko leaned in, hand cupping behind his ear. "Sorry? I couldn't quite hear that little boy; could you speak up?"

The boys' laughter was cut short when Wasumaru stood up. The skies darkened as gray clouds suddenly filled the sky. Thunder rumbled through the schoolyard as the boys stood in fear, for Wasumaru had grown to four times his size with glowing red eyes that instilled panic in all who gazed at him.

Trembling with horror, Reiko and Hirosho could only stare at Wasumaru as he opened his menacing mouth of razor teeth and yelled _**"I said, LEAVE ME ALONE!"**_

Screaming as if their lives were in danger, the two boys ran as fast as their legs could carry them away from Wasumaru, away from death incarnate.

When Wasumaru saw that the boys had left, he sat back down to wipe the dirt off of his canvas. He then calmly reached for his pen-brush he had dropped and went back to work on his drawing. Unfortunately, he found that he could not complete his drawing;

The birds had left the tree.

* * *

Hanabi was quite astonished.

One second, she was walking towards Hirosho and Reiko with the intent on teaching both of them a lesson. In the next, the two of them were suddenly stricken with fear, and were now trying to put as much distance between themselves and Wasumaru as possible. But Hanabi couldn't see what made them run away like that.

_"A genjutsu?" _she wondered. If so, she could only wonder what Hirosho and Reiko had seen.

Kaji was also stunned. "Whoa, that was weird. What happened?" he asked.

Hanabi replied "A genjutsu most likely, but I didn't know he could do that."

"Who could've known?" said Kaji. "He hasn't done anything all year except draw."

From the doorway of the academy looking out towards the playground, Iruka had seen the whole confrontation. "Hmm, a genjutsuist eh?" he wondered aloud. As he looked to a letter in his hand, he said "I see what his parents meant now. He could probably graduate without knowing the clone jutsu or the transformation jutsu. But, just to be on the safe side, I should test him tomorrow."

* * *

The next day, another morning in Konoha came, flooding the village streets with the opening rays of sunshine. It would have been easy to enjoy the sunrise, were it not for the academy exams that began early for the students.

The students began filing in the classroom, ready for the three-hour exams. Most of them were nervous; Hanabi and Kaji were not among them. They both knew what they had to do, and they also knew that they would not fail; they simply couldn't. The consequences of failing combined with their own determination made failure an impossibility. And so, Hanabi and Kaji were among the calmest students in the classroom.

Wasumaru was always calm, mostly because he did not completely grasp the full meaning of today. For him, today was like any other class. As soon as he sat down, he took out his pastel kit, a small pen brush, and a sheet of canvas, and went straight to work on his next drawing.

Once all of the students took their seats, Iruka entered the room with a stack of exam papers. "The written portion of the exam will be handed out. You have thirty minutes to complete it," said Iruka as he handed out the test.

"Alright," said Iruka after the last test was handed out, "you may begin."

The air was soon filled with the sounds of pencil on paper as thirty students started scribbling answers as fast as they could.

For Hanabi, the written test was simple enough; she blazed through the questions effortlessly, armed with her tough mental training as well as physical. Because she was so well prepared for the exam, she finished the test first after only fifteen minutes since the starting signal.

_"And that's that," _she thought as she put her pencil down. She looked around to see who else had finished, and was shocked to see that Wasumaru had also finished a second after her and was now back to drawing at his seat.

_"He finished too?" _wondered Hanabi. _"Perhaps I wrote him off too quickly,"_ she thought as she fixed her gaze back to the front of the class.

A few minutes later, Kaji put down his pencil. "Meh, that's all I can do. See ya in the practicals," he said as he rested his legs on his desk, untroubled about not being able to answer a good portion of the questions. His cocky behavior caused some students to look up from their papers, but they were quickly corrected by Iruka's gaze from the head of the class. The students that had looked up also knew that time was of the essence, and they could not afford any distractions to deter them.

At the end of the half-hour, Iruka said "Time is up; pencils down." Some of the students groaned at not finishing in time, others set aside their pencils with confidence.

After Iruka gathered all of the test papers, he said to the students "The practical exam will begin shortly. For the exam, you need to perform the clone jutsu. Good luck to everyone." A few of the students were dismayed at the requirement for the practical exam, but Hanabi and Kaji remained confident.

_"The clone jutsu huh?" _thought Kaji, _"Just perfect; I'll ace this portion of the test, no problem!"_

A few seats away from him, Hanabi thought _"I cannot fail; I have to be stronger. I must become a genin!"_

In the back corner, Wasumaru was still drawing, oblivious to the world around him.

* * *

About a half-hour later, the practical exam began. One by one, Iruka called on each of the students in alphabetical order to go into the testing room and perform the clone jutsu. One by one, nervous student after nervous student attempted to execute a perfect clone jutsu.

Some did well, creating multiple images of themselves. Others either created clones that were exhausted from the lack of chakra, or created a small number of them from lack of chakra control.

As Hanabi stepped out of the exam room, she met Madoka just outside of the door. "How did you do, Hanabi-chan?" asked Madoka eagerly.

"How do you think?" grinned Hanabi, "I created five images of myself. I could've done more, but I didn't feel like using all of my chakra on this test. Besides, I think five clones are enough to pass."

"Wow Hanabi-chan, you're so great! I could only manage three clones," said Madoka as the two walked outdoors to the warm morning.

A while later, Kaji walked into the academy playground where all of the other students were waiting for the results. He boasted "I managed to create two clones; real ones, not the cheap images that they make us learn."

Several 'ooh's and 'ahh's came from the crowd of students who gathered around him, impressed by his feat. "Aren't you tired?" asked one of the students.

Rubbing the back of his head with an arm and grinning like a fool, Kaji admitted "Yeah, now that'cha mention it, I'm hungry. I hope they let us soon; I can't wait to celebrate my graduation from this place."

* * *

Back in the exam room, only one student remained; he was drawing peacefully in the back corner. It was nice having the room to himself since there was no one to bother or distract him. Complete tranquility was contained inside these four walls, and Wasumaru liked it.

This peace was to be short-lived however: "Zakūusho, Wasumaru," called Iruka's voice from the doorway.

Wasumaru looked around, and calmly put away his pastels and drawings of the empty room. He then walked down to the exit, and entered the practical exam room. There, at the head of the room was Iruka-sensei, a pen and pad at the ready. Wasumaru walked slowly into the middle of the room, sat on the green-matted floor in front of Iruka, and waited.

Iruka gave Wasumaru an encouraging smile and said "Whenever you're ready Wasumaru-san, show me the clone jutsu."

Wasumaru looked into Iruka's eyes with his own, and then looked back down. He brought his hands to form the ram, snake, and tiger seals, and said emotionlessly "Clone jutsu".

Like yesterday during Wasumaru's attempt at the transformation jutsu, his passive attempt at the clone jutsu showed no results.

Iruka sighed and said "Wasumaru-san, this is your third year here. All I ever see you do is draw in class. You're not really trying now, aren't you?"

Wasumaru's only reply was raising his head so once again, he was looking into his sensei's eyes quizzically.

Iruka kept gazing at Wasumaru and said "There must be some reason why you are enrolled here. What is it that you want?"

He was almost shocked to see that Wasumaru opened his mouth in thought. Iruka was more shocked by his response:

"I want to see, everything. I want to share, everything, with, everyone."

Iruka almost didn't know what to make of it, but after a second of thought, he realized what Wasumaru meant. "If you want to see things outside of Konoha, you must become a ninja. To do that, you have to show me that you know how to perform the clone jutsu. To get what you want, you must pass this exam. Do you understand?"

For a moment, Wasumaru stared at Iruka, and Iruka stared right back. After that moment, Wasumaru brought his hands up to make the three seals again. "Clone jutsu!"

A puff of smoke engulfed Wasumaru, and when it had cleared, there was a perfect clone sitting next to him, staring at Iruka.

Iruka smiled. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it? Hmm, I've also checked your written exam score, and based on what I saw, you pass Wasumaru-san. You're free to go."

Without another word, Wasumaru stood up and walked towards the door. Iruka could almost swear he saw Wasumaru's face betray a hint of happiness as he left the room.

* * *

About an hour later, all of the students were called back into the classroom to await the results of their test. Some, like Hanabi and Kaji, were confident that they had passed. Others were less confident, going over the entire exam in their heads and with their friends to make sure that they had done enough to pass.

Madoka turned to Hanabi and asked "Who do you think passed, Hanabi-chan?"

"I don't know, except that I passed for sure," Hanabi boldly replied.

With a small giggle, Madoka said "You're not the top of our class for nothing, Hanabi-chan."

Kaji was quiet, but he had a smile on his face that could speak for itself. His feet on his desk and his head resting against his arms, he knew that his impressive practical more than made up for his mediocre written exam.

Wasumaru was in his usual place, completing his drawing of the school playground. No one paid him any attention, and many believed he had failed the exam for the third year in a row.

Finally, after many tense moments, Iruka entered the room, quelling the buzzing room instantly. He was carrying a box of what everyone assumed to be filled with Leaf village forehead protectors. However, only a few of the students noticed that Iruka had no papers with him.

Iruka set the box on his desk, and addressed the class. "Now, normally, this would be the time where I announce who passed or failed,"

The entire class held their breath (except for Wasumaru, who seemed not to hear anything Iruka was saying).

"But there's no need for me to do that. I'm proud to say as your teacher that everyone in this room passed the graduation exam!"

It was as if someone set off a paper bomb in the classroom; most of the students were giving cries of relief and elation. The thrill and excitement from Iruka's announcement was so great that only a few of the students realized that Wasumaru had passed as well.

"But, surely Wasumaru failed at least, right?" wondered one student.

But Iruka was true to his word as one by one the students were called up to accept their forehead protectors. When Iruka gave out the last one to Wasumaru, he announced to the class "It is now official: you are all Leaf village ninja. Starting tomorrow, you will all be broken into three-man teams, and be sent on missions with an assigned jonin."

Kaji was overjoyed, and was not shy about showing it. "Whoo hoo! Finally; I'm outta here!" he exclaimed as he raised his arms in victory, his forehead protector replacing the headband that held up his hair.

Hanabi was also happy that she was a ninja at last, but she was still as determined as ever. _"I must become stronger. I have to be stronger than, her,"_

The only one on the room not showing any signs of joy was Wasumaru; he was finishing another drawing of the classroom, forehead protector hanging from his neck. What was special about this drawing was that all of the students in it were wearing their forehead protectors; the new generation taking another step towards becoming the protectors of Konohagakure.

* * *

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years,

Kaji: YES! I'm finally a ninja! Oh man, I can't wait to tackle real missions and kick butt!

Hanabi: Not so fast! We need to meet our new jonin first, and he's going to give us a test. If we fail, we have to go back to the academy.

Kaji: Say what! No way that's gonna happen. Who is this jonin? Tell him to bring on his so called 'test'; I'm not scared!

Wasumaru:...you should be...

Kaji: Huh?

Hanabi: Okay, as I was saying, next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

The New Jonin: Shintaro's Test!

Kaji: You guys better not slow me down!

* * *

(Hanabi is sitting in the classroom. Wasumaru is drawing quietly in the corner. Kaji runs into the classroom)

Kaji: So Hanabi-chan, who do you think our new Jonin is?

Hanabi: How should I know?

Kaji: Well, whoever he is, his test is gonna be a cinch!

Hanabi: If anyone is going to have an easy time with his test, it will be me.

Kaji: No way! My shadow clone jutsu will wipe the floor with his test!

Hanabi: I already told you; your jutsu alone is nothing!

Wasumaru: *Accidentally smudges his drawing behind Hanabi and Kaji* Quiet please,

Kaji: Oh? And what jutsu do you know that's better than my shadow clone jutsu?

Hanabi: My Byakugan eyes are a lot more impressive than your clone jutsu!

Kaji: Oh please; those eyes are only good for seeing, not for battle!

*the two continue arguing, not noticing the room becoming darker*

*Lightning strikes*

Wasumaru: _**I SAID QUIET!**_

*silence*

Hanabi/Kaji: Scary...

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Hanabi Hyuga

Gender: Female

Birthdate: March 24

Age: 8

Height: 137.2cm

Weight: 31.5kg

Blood Type: A

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Yakisoba

Dislikes: Spicy foods

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Hanabi, or Iruka. Pretty much all of the other characters belong to me. (I should get credit for Hanabi though; it was tough coming up with her behavior, and she only appears for one episode, a flashback, and two still frames anyway.)

Hopefully I'll be able to update frequently, but I'm not going to make any promises. As far as reviews go, please do. I accept all forms of constructive criticism. I even accept flames; they'll be used to feed the fire I have in the corner of my cubicle.

What? A guy's gotta keep warm, y'know...


	2. The New Jonin: Shintaro's Test

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 2: The New Jonin: Shintaro's Test!

It was a new day, and all of the graduated students were back in the Ninja Academy classroom, anxious to be sorted into teams. Many of the students were grateful that this would be the last they would see of the musty classroom, free of its boring lectures and monotonous training routines. But many still were all pondering over the same questions: who would be chosen as their teammates, and who would be the jonin to lead them?

Hanabi was wondering about these very questions as she rested with her head in her arms, eyes piercing the lone window in the room. Next to her, Madoka was sitting quite relaxed with her hands in her lap. Both of them wore their Leaf village forehead protectors proudly on their brow, but neither of them seemed to acknowledge that their behavior had not changed.

As the other students were chattering amongst each other, Madoka broke the silence between Hanabi and herself. "Hanabi-chan?"

"What is it, Madoka-san?" mumbled Hanabi, not averting her gaze from the window.

"Isn't this exciting? We are finally kunoichi now," Madoka said, smiling.

Hanabi's lips also crept into a small smile as she replied "I know."

A minute passed between them as the class waited for Iruka-sensei to arrive before Madoka spoke to her again. "Who do you want on your team, Hanabi-chan?" asked Madoka.

Hanabi thought for a moment, and then admittedly answered "I don't know. I just hope Kaji isn't on my team."

Madoka tilted her head in wonder. "Why not Kaji-kun?"

Hanabi gave a halfhearted shrug and answered "Kaji seems like someone who only fights alone. That kind of attitude will get him into a lot of trouble, and I just don't want to be the person who will have to keep saving him." As she said those words, Hanabi heard a small giggle from her classmate. She turned to look at Madoka and saw that her smile bore a small suggestion of mischief. "What?" asked Hanabi indignantly.

"It's just that, well," smiling brightly, Madoka turned to the front of the class before she said "you two have a little more in common than you would admit.

Hanabi didn't know whether to take her remark as an insult or as a joke. "What exactly are you trying to suggest?" she demanded as she gave her full attention to Madoka.

Trying to maintain an innocent posture, Madoka sighed "Oh, nothing," as another small giggle escaped from her.

Slightly annoyed, Hanabi told her "If you want Kaji on your team, that's perfectly fine with me; just don't go spreading those kinds of rumors around!"

Madoka maintained her innocent smile as she shook her head. "I didn't mean any ill will towards you Hanabi-chan; if you really want Kaji-kun on my team, then I'm okay with it."

Resting her head in her arms once more, Hanabi mumbled under her breath "It's not like you have any say of who will be on whose team anyway."

A good distance away from her, Kaji was leaning back in his seat. His relaxed nature surprised no one as he loudly said "Whoever's on my team'd better be good enough to keep up with me. I don't wanna have'ta be constantly saving someone's butt just because they're lagging behind."

"Save your bragging for later," said Reiko from behind Kaji.

Thrown off by the retort, Kaji got off of his chair to face him. "What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"What I mean is that no one knows if you're going to be the one on your team who holds everyone up," said Reiko, a smug look decorating his face.

Taken aback by the reply, Kaji angrily said "That's tough talk for someone who was scared off by Wasumaru the other day!"

Not missing a step, Reiko countered "That's tough talk for someone who never experienced his genjutsu before,"

Kaji stammered "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

Next to Reiko, Hirosho replied "We were scared off by Wasumaru, but we never had a problem with you. Now what do you think of that?"

Shifting into a fighting stance, Kaji said "I say bring it on! You're not afraid of me because you never fought me before! I'll kick both of your butts, right here, right now!"

As the three continued to argue, Wasumaru was drawing peacefully in the back corner. The one thing different about him today was that he wore his Leaf village forehead protector on his left arm. Because of his ever passive behavior however, no one seemed to notice he was there at all.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Iruka entered the classroom, silencing the room almost instantly. He held in his hand a clipboard which, the students could only assume, held the list for the three-man teams they would all be sorted into. Everyone (with the exception of Wasumaru) had their eyes locked on Iruka, eagerly waiting to hear who their teammates would be.

Standing in front of the class, Iruka said to the thirty willing students "Alright everyone; today you will be sorted into your three-man teams and be assigned your jonin. You're going to train and perform missions with your teammates as genin. As you progress, your jonin will evaluate your performance as a ninja and will oversee your development. As your teacher, I wish good luck to all of you."

"Your teams were formed based on your performance in the class so that every team would be relatively equal in strength." Some of the students gasped at this, but were silenced by one look from Iruka-sensei. He looked down at the clipboard and started to read off the teams. "Team one: Dai Kotoshiba, Kisho Takanabe, and Sayoko Tomari."

Hanabi turned her attention to the class as three students stood up. She recognized the closest one as Dai Kotoshiba; a boy with short hair of darkest blue extending into two small antennae on either sides of his face, he wore an all dark-blue combat outfit with mesh sleeves on his forearms, bandages on his fists, and a relaxed smile that told everyone he was ready. Hanabi knew that Dai was always the first one to class, and could always be seen training during recess. She also knew that he would have made a good teammate as he was more than competent during Iruka's practical lessons.

_"Oh well,"_ thought Hanabi as she sighed, _"I guess it wasn't meant to be..."_

Kisho Takanabe was the other boy Hanabi saw stand up. His long aqua hair in a ponytail, he wore an off-white sleeveless vest over a skintight black shirt. His light face, Hanabi noticed, always had a weary look. She credited this to the fact that Kisho was always thirsty; during recess, and sometimes during classes, he would drink from juice boxes or from his large water bottle. Hanabi remembered Madoka telling her once that Iruka received a special order from Kisho's parents that allowed him to drink in class.

"I'd bet you'd also want Kisho on your team, eh Madoka?" muttered Hanabi.

Still wearing a beaming smile, Madoka turned to her friend. "Kisho-kun? You think so Hanabi-chan? That would have been good too," she replied, turning back to Iruka-sensei.

_"Wow, and I was only joking," _thought Hanabi.

Sayoko Tomari was known for being bold; fiery orange hair flowing down her back and ending in a flat fringe over her brow, her narrow eyes and short orange dress accentuated her sharp fighting spirit that even Hanabi had to admire. Whenever any of the boys started picking on her friends during recess, she would immediately challenge them to a fight, and she usually won.

"Good for Sayoko-san," Madoka smiled as the three sat back down, "I hope they get along well together."

"Yeah, I guess so," sighed Hanabi. As an afterthought, she added "You should probably be more worried about who's going to be on your team."

Madoka once again turned towards Hanabi and replied "Oh, I'm sure any two teammates would be fine."

_"Why am I not surprised?" _thought Hanabi.

"Team two: Reiko Yakusabe, Hirosho Nakagare, and Madoka Hayashi."

Almost surprised at her name being called so early, Madoka stood up as she said to herself "Oh, Reiko-san and Hirosho-san," while still wearing her gleaming smile. She hardly seemed to notice that, judging on the looks on their faces, Hirosho and Reiko had no intention of teaming with Madoka. In fact, they probably would have openly objected to it, if not for Iruka-sensei standing at the front of the class. Hanabi figured that Madoka did not observe Hirosho and Reiko's behavior towards Wasumaru the other day, but she chose not to say anything.

_"It probably wouldn't matter anyway; I don't think she ever gets disappointed," _thought Hanabi helplessly.

After the three sat back down, Iruka began to read off the next team. "Team three: Kaji Sogeki, Hanabi Hyuga, and Wasumaru Zakūusho."

As Hanabi scowled under her breath, Kaji grinned and boasted "I thought the teams were supposed to be even, but if you really want that much talent on our team, then I don't mind."

Iruka raised an eyebrow and said "Actually Kaji-san, despite your excellent practical, your written test caused you to have the lowest passing grade in the class."

"EH!?" Kaji yelled while Hanabi grinned under her arms. _"Well, at least I have that as a consolation prize," _thought Hanabi as Kaji stood flabbergasted. A good number of the class were also amused by this fact, and were not afraid to share a laugh at Kaji's expense.

Wasumaru did not even seem to hear that he had been sorted already.

After the rest of the students were sorted into their teams, Iruka addressed the class. "Now that you're all sorted into three-man teams, I'll call you back in here this afternoon to introduce you to your assigned jonin instructors. Until then, you're dismissed."

* * *

Today was almost like any other day in the village. As much as she wanted to spend it walking through the town having fun, Lady Tsunade had to fill out the usual mountain of paperwork that came with being the Hokage. However, even someone as busy as Tsunade had to take special note of this day, for she knew that Iruka would soon enter her office to receive the list of jonin that would lead the new genin.

Placing another finished mission form aside, Tsunade said aloud "I wonder when Iruka-san is going to get here; I have all of the jonin on standby."

"Oh, I'm sure he's on his way," replied a black-haired woman in a dark dress next to her.

"Bui!" added a small pig in her arms. Shizune was also anxious today, for she knew that her master would have her hands tied trying to assign missions now that a good portion of the jonin would be sent to train the new genin. She did not look forward to Tsunade's temper this early in the day.

Slightly irritated, Tsunade again spoke aloud "He'd better not be late; I'm buried in papers already and I don't need him to back it up."

As if answering her threat, there was a knock on her door, giving Tsunade an excuse to set down her pen. "Come in," she said.

The dark wooden door opened, and Iruka stepped into the office carrying his clipboard. "Lady Hokage, I have the list of jonin and their respective genin teams," he said as he laid the clipboard on the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade picked up the clipboard and read through the names. "Hmm, these are some excellent jonin that are going to be in charge," she said as she flipped to the second page. "Hmm?" she wondered as she stopped at the name of a particular jonin. "Shintaro Misumi?"

"Is something wrong Lady Tsunade?" asked Shizune.

Looking through her papers and picking up a large green book, Tsunade replied "Shintaro is one of our more skilled ninja. I believe I sent him on a mission a week ago; he should be back from it soon." As she flipped through the mission roster, another question scratched her mind. "Who's on his team?"

"Kaji Sogeki, Wasumaru Zakūusho, and Hanabi Hyuga," answered Iruka.

"Hmm, a Hyuga huh? Should be interesting," Tsunade said as she stopped on a page in the book.

"Why's that?" wondered Iruka.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, startling Iruka and Shizune. Without waiting for a response, the door opened, revealing a green vested man around Iruka's age. He had short dark hair and a sheathed katana at his side, but his most notable feature was that he wore a red blindfold over his eyes below his forehead protector.

"Because he's blind," said Tsunade, setting the roster back on the desk.

"Lady Hokage," said Shintaro as he placed one hand on her desk for stability, "I've returned from my mission."

"I assume you succeeded?" asked Iruka.

"There were some, complications," replied Shintaro as he turned his head towards Iruka's general direction.

Iruka pressed him. "But you completed your mission?"

Almost with a smile, Shintaro said "Oh no; the mission was a failure."

"What!?" This answer was obviously not what Iruka had expected. He turned to Tsunade for an explanation. All she could do was sigh and say "I said he was one of our most skilled jonin, not our most efficient."

Turning his head back towards the Hokage, Shintaro said "Yes, that's partially why I want to lead a three-man genin team: I trust my team will have to deal with simpler missions than what I'm used to. Of course, I'll have to see if they are good enough,"

Tsunade said "You might want to hurry; all of the other jonin have already been sent to the academy."

Giving a slight nod, Shintaro replied "Yes, I'll go right away Lady Hokage." Despite the urgency of her message, Shintaro was walking calmly out of the office, hand groping for the door handle in front of him. After a moment, he found the handle, and was able to exit the office, leaving a bewildered Iruka to stare at him as he left.

"Uh, are you sure about this Lady Hokage?" wondered Iruka.

"Of course I'm sure," said Tsunade. "He may not look like much, but Shintaro is frightening in battle. I have it on record that he used to work for the ANBU black ops while the third was Hokage."

"Used to?" asked Iruka, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," she said as she looked at a file, "it says here that he was discharged. It doesn't say why though, although I'm not surprised; the ANBU are a very private bunch," said Tsunade as she poured herself a cup of green tea. "All I know is that ever since then, he has never successfully completed a mission higher than C-rank."

Iruka was looking more and more skeptical, but Tsunade assured him, "Don't worry; he has his reasons. And he is more than capable of taking care of a couple of genin."

"I sure hope so," sighed Iruka.

Somewhere in the city streets of Konohagakure, a group of people stopped to chuckle at a man who bumped into a trash can, spilling its contents to the dirt ground.

* * *

It was nearly sunset in the ninja academy, and only three students were left in the hot, sweltering room: Hanabi was bored, Kaji was restless, and Wasumaru was indifferent.

Hanabi had her head rested against her arms, trying to make up for some hours of lost sleep. Kaji was pacing all over the room, waiting to teach their late jonin a lesson. Wasumaru was drawing in the corner as usual.

Finally, Kaji broke the tense silence. "Gah! When is our sensei going to get here?!? We're the only ones left! You'd think a jonin would have a better sense of the time!"

"Don't be so loud Kaji!" said Hanabi, not moving from her resting position. "You're so impatient; can't you sit still for one minute?"

But Kaji continued to shout "I have been sitting here. I've been standing, walking, and stretching all over this classroom. I'll admit that I don't like to wait, but three hours is pushing it!"

Irritated, Hanabi stared at Kaji. "Something might have happened to him. Maybe he got held up on a mission. Maybe he's injured..."

As she tried to think of another reason why their jonin was this late, there was a knock on the door that even startled Wasumaru for a split-second. Before anyone could answer the door, it opened, releasing a strange blindfolded man in a green ninja vest into the room.

"Or maybe he's blind," said Hanabi as she picked up her head out of her arms to look at their apparent sensei.

"Greetings; I hope I'm in the right place," said the man, one arm outstretched as he tried to feel his way into the room.

Kaji had no intention of feeling sorry for him. "You're late by a lot! Just how long were you planning on having us sit here?"

Embarrassed, Hanabi scolded Kaji. "Are you out of your mind? He can't see! I'd like to see you try and walk through town without eyesight."

Stopping for only a second because of the sound of his sensei's entrance, Wasumaru was back to drawing the classroom, now trying to include the blind man in the picture.

After a slight chuckle, the man said "I'm sorry, but it's always so hard to navigate these streets; I swear they always keep putting up new shops and roads every time I'm away. In any case, it's been years since I've been to the academy, so I'm sure you can understand why it took me so long to get here,"

"Well I don't!" Kaji declared, pointing at his sensei. "You should've had someone lead you here if you knew you didn't have any idea where you were going!"

"My, my, it seems we have a live one here. You shouldn't be so hasty; we have plenty of time," said the jonin as his lips formed an amused smile.

Kaji did not return the smile. Instead, he yelled "I don't see why we should spend plenty of time waiting for you to get here!"

Hanabi was about to reprimand Kaji again, but she didn't have to. Placing his arm back at his side, the man said in a very foreboding tone "You know, as someone who determines whether you become ninja or not, you sure aren't treating me with a whole lot of respect."

That shut Kaji up immediately; the threat froze him in place as if moving would cost him his life. Even Hanabi had chills from the man's implied warning.

For a moment, Wasumaru's lip quivered ever so slightly.

Their teacher grinned, and said "Now then, my name is Shintaro Misumi."

"I'm Hanabi Hyuga, Shintaro-sensei," said Hanabi as she stood up and bowed to him.

Kaji, still frozen, stammered "I, I'm Kaji Sogeki!"

Shintaro cocked his head to one side and said "There's no need to be fearful; I was only joking. You don't have to stay still on my account."

Kaji was both relieved and confused as he put his arm back down. Hanabi was just as perplexed as Kaji; it seemed as if their sensei knew that Kaji had frozen, despite his blindness. This confusion intensified as their sensei then turned towards the near corner and said "And who's the boy drawing in the corner? I assume you're the third teammate. What's your name?"

Kaji and Hanabi both let their mouths fall open; how in the world did their blind sensei manage to detect Wasumaru when he had not said a single word all afternoon let alone since their sensei entered the room.

Uncertainty in his words, Kaji asked "Sensei, how can you see Wasumaru? You're blind!"

"Kaji, don't insult hi-" Hanabi began to yell before being cut off by Shintaro. "Who said I saw him? A ninja must never underestimate his opponent's abilities; sight is not the only sense a human possesses."

He then turned to look at Kaji. "For example," and Shintaro pointed towards Wasumaru, "I heard his breathing and his pen strokes as soon as I came in. I also faintly smelled ink that is not from the school, and his pen strokes didn't sound like he was writing any common characters. Therefore, he is drawing in that corner. I trust he is almost finished with it? I believe I unintentionally left him enough time to do so."

Kaji and Hanabi were visibly impressed (not that Shintaro nor Wasumaru noticed); try as they may, neither of them could focus hard enough to hear Wasumaru's subtle breaths and pen strokes. Stepping forward, Hanabi said "Wasumaru-san doesn't speak all that much Shintaro-sensei; he usually draws, even in class."

Shintaro brought his hand to his chin in thought. "Is that so? Well then, yes, this should work out perfectly..."

"Eh? What should work out perfectly?" wondered Kaji, eyebrow raised.

Tilting his head and speaking as if the answer was obvious, Shintaro replied "Well, your test. You would like to know what it is I suppose?"

"Of course! Bring it on; I've been waiting forever for this!" said Kaji as he threw a fist in the air.

Hanabi gave a small nod and said "We're ready Shintaro-sensei."

Wasumaru was putting the finishing touches on his drawing.

"Alright then," said Shintaro as he turned to the door. "Second training ground, eight o'clock, don't be late," he said as he felt his way out of the room, leaving a curious Hanabi, a disappointed Kaji, and an oblivious Wasumaru.

* * *

The new morning came and the early birds sang their song throughout the city. As Hanabi walked calmly towards the second training field, she took her time to listen as she rarely ever had the pleasure to do so. However, while she was savoring the privilege of hearing the pleasant sounds of the morning, she knew that she must be prepared for anything their new jonin would have in store for them.

As she stopped at the chain-link gate, Hanabi took one last deep breath and crossed the threshold. She was now focused completely on her goals instead of the soothing sounds of everything around her. Everything could wait until after she truly became a genin.

She was so focused on her goals that she almost didn't notice that someone beat her to the training ground; sitting on a lone bench was Wasumaru. As she approached him, it had appeared that he had been there for at least an hour, for he had a finished drawing of what looked like a view of the training ground next to him.

"Wasumaru? You're here early," said Hanabi as she sat on the ground next to the bench. Curious about what could be so interesting about the training grounds, Hanabi motioned to the finished drawing. "What's this?"

Before she could touch it, Wasumaru said without looking "It's drying."

"I see," said Hanabi as she retracted her hand.

As minutes passed, Hanabi tried to make the most of the time. "You really like drawing, don't you?" she asked.

This time, there came no reply; Wasumaru kept drawing a different view of the training grounds, his wide black eyes unwavering.

Hanabi sighed; it's hard to make conversation with someone who doesn't speak.

After what seemed like half an hour, Hanabi spotted Kaji walking towards them. "Did I miss anything?" asked Kaji with a sly grin.

"You're late!" Hanabi exclaimed, accusation in her eyes.

Kaji gave a short laugh and put his arms behind his head. "And so is our Jonin. What'd you expect? I bet it'll take him hours to get here anyway. Besides, I'm not going to be the one who could've eaten breakfast but didn't."

"You're late."

"I already know that," said Kaji right before he realized what was going on; that last voice didn't sound like a girl's.

"Um, Kaji?" said Hanabi as she looked at a spot over Kaji's shoulder with her white eyes in fear. "That wasn't me."

His grin of satisfaction soon turned to one of uneasiness as he slowly turned around. Standing behind him was Shintaro, his face bearing down on Kaji. "By about a half-hour in fact. I expect you thought I wasn't going to be here?"

Kaji's confidence was shaken as he tried to come up with a reasonable answer. "Uh, yes, I mean no, I mean I don't know!"

"I suppose it's for yesterday," said Shintaro as he smiled and walked past Kaji. Kaji and Hanabi breathed a sigh of relief.

Their sensei walked in front of the bench and motioned with his arm, "Please have a seat." Since Wasumaru took up most of the bench with his art supplies and drawings, Hanabi and Kaji were forced to sit on the ground.

Shintaro took a seat on the ground himself and said "Now let's get down to business. You are here today to be tested to see if you have the ability to become ninja. I'm here to determine whether or not you succeed, and I will do so by giving you a series of challenges. If you fail, you get sent back to the academy, and I'm sure you don't want that." Hanabi and Kaji shook their heads in response. Wasumaru was still drawing.

As Shintaro took out a black bag, he said "Your first task is to find a talisman hidden within the training grounds. Each of you has a separate talisman, and that's the talisman you have to bring back here, on that bench," and he pointed to where Wasumaru was sitting. "You have fifteen minutes by yourselves, and then I will enter the grounds. If I see you with your talisman, I will attempt to take it from you and put it back in its hiding spot. You can use whatever techniques or weapons you have to prevent this from happening."

Grinning, Kaji said "Really? I get to fight you? Alright! Prepare to get your butt kicked!"

Irritated, Hanabi looked at Kaji. "Must you be so disrespectful?"

"Don't worry; he'll get his chance," grinned Shintaro. Clearing his throat, he continued "The last two to bring back their talismans will keep their handicaps for the next challenge."

Confused, Kaji asked "Eh, what handicaps?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," and Shintaro emptied the contents of the bag into his hand: three scrolls, each with their name on it. "Take your scroll," said Shintaro, placing them on the ground.

Hanabi took her scroll and Kaji followed suit. Wasumaru, finally done with his drawing, slowly took the remaining scroll.

Shintaro explained "Kaji; when you open your scroll, you will be blind, like me."

"What!?" exclaimed Kaji. "That's a little much isn't it? What's the problem? You need your opponent to be blind in order for you to beat him?"

Ignoring his complaints, Shintaro turned to Hanabi. "When you open your scroll, you will be unable to speak."

Smirking, Hanabi said "You should've given that one to Kaji I think,"

"I heard that!" said Kaji.

Shintaro then knelt in front of Wasumaru. "When you open your scroll, you will be deaf."

Wasumaru simply stared at him with his depthless eyes.

As Shintaro stood up, he said "You have until noon to find your talisman and bring it back to this bench. The last two to complete this mission will not only keep their handicaps for the next challenge, but will also spend the rest of the day with it."

"EH?!" yelled Kaji as thoughts of him bumping into trees and carts and posts all over Konoha danced through his mind.

Hanabi was not any happier. _"Not being able to talk for the entire day? That's certainly not something I'd look forward to,"_

As for Wasumaru, being able to draw without any distractions? It didn't seem at all bad to him…

"Your mission begins, now!" said Shintaro. At those words, the three of them opened their scrolls and began to wander off into the training grounds.

* * *

Kaji: Help! I can't see! Ow! I think I tripped over a rock! Hey, Hanabi-chan; where are you?!

Hanabi: ........

Kaji: Oh, that's right, you can't talk. Hey, Wasumaru; help a guy out huh?

Wasumaru: ........

Kaji: Oh, right, you can't hear. This is so frustrating!

Hanabi: _If I could talk, I would. This test is turning out to be more troublesome than anything I could imagine. If only there was some way I could get my talisman!_

Kaji: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

The Deaf, the Mute, and the Blind: Only One Solution!

Kaji: I don't wanna be blind for the whole day! I can't give up!

* * *

Ninja Academy Training

(Hanabi and Kaji are at the front of the classroom. Wasumaru is off to the side, drawing.)

Hanabi: Today, we're going to look at the three types of jutsu.

Kaji: And we're going to help, right Wasumaru?

Wasumaru: *still drawing*

Kaji: …Right, you go first Hanabi.

Hanabi: *rolls eyes* The first type of jutsu is Taijutsu. Taijutsu focuses on hand to hand combat, and is usually used for direct attacks against opponents. The Hyuga clan practices an especially deadly type of Taijutsu. You'll see it in the next episode.

Kaji: Damn, you're so cool Hanabi-chan! Anyway, the next type of jutsu is Ninjutsu. It's the most common type of jutsu we ninja perform because there's no limitations. Ninjutsu utilizes chakra for a variety of effects. For example, my very impressive shadow clone jutsu is a Ninjutsu.

Hanabi: *narrows eyes* It isn't all that impressive...

Kaji: Whatever! And the third type of jutsu...uh...

Hanabi: You didn't forget, did you?

Kaji: N-n-no! Of course not......but, could I have a hint?

(the well-lit room dims as the blackboard behind them morphs into a twisted monster with large yellow eyes and a gaping sharp mouth. Hanabi and Kaji bring their arms up to shield against it right before the whole classroom returns to normal)

Wasumaru: Genjutsu.

Kaji: *visibly scared* R-right, thanks Wasumaru...

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Kaji Sogeki

Gender: Male

Birthdate: June 19

Age: 12

Height: 150.5cm

Weight: 42.7kg

Blood Type: B

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Spicy Chicken/Beef

Dislikes: Dango

* * *

A/N: Three weeks, huh? Alright, I'll credit that to finals week, but now I'm on break, so the next chapter should come out faster (I hope).

So, for the most part, this story is going to follow canon as closely as possible. Shouldn't be too hard since I'm okay as long as everything ends up looking like Shippuden, right?

Here's hoping for a quick update for next time. Until then, back to my cubicle!


	3. The Deaf, the Mute, and the Blind

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 3: The Deaf, the Mute, and the Blind: Only One Solution!

"Your mission begins, now!" said Shintaro. At those words, Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru opened their scrolls and began to wander off into the training grounds.

It was a very unusual feeling for Hanabi; as she ran deeper into the grounds, she felt as if her throat had glue sticking to the walls, preventing her from getting any sound out. She could move her lips and breathe, but somehow she knew that she couldn't talk if she tried.

Kaji had a similar feeling; wandering aimlessly into the grounds guided only by Hanabi's footsteps, his world was complete darkness. He could feel his eyelids blinking on impulse, but he knew it wouldn't help him to see anything. Frustrated, Kaji yelled "Hey, Hanabi! Wasumaru! Where are you guys?!"

As Kaji tripped over a sapling, Wasumaru was strolling in another direction with nothing to distract him. As he walked, he started sketching his surroundings with a pencil and pad.

Hanabi saw Wasumaru out of the corner of her eye and thought _"Is he even trying to find his talisman? Oh well." _Turning back to the task at hand, Hanabi thought about how she was going to find her talisman. _"I don't even know what I'm looking for; this thing could be anywhere on the grounds, and I don't know the size, shape, or really anything about this talisman! I suppose the only thing I can do is search every inch of this place." _She sped off further into the grounds, leaving Kaji and Wasumaru behind.

A good distance away from her, Kaji was already in desperation. "How am I supposed to find anything like this!?" he shouted to himself. Not being able to see was a bigger handicap than he thought it would be; even if he somehow found his talisman, how in the world was he supposed to make his way back to the bench?

"Maybe there's a trick to this," thought Kaji aloud as he walked with his arms out, hoping he wouldn't run into a tree. He thought about Shintaro-sensei and said "There has to be a reason why he blinded me for my handicap." As he said it, he realized something; "Hey! Shintaro-sensei's blind too, but he uses his other senses to move around. Maybe that's what he wants me to do!"

He stood perfectly still, trying to pick up a scent, a sound, anything that he couldn't just see. He even held his breath so he could truly use his ears to pick up the tiniest hint of a clue as to where his talisman was.

After about a minute, nothing new came to Kaji save for a couple of birds flying overhead. "This is getting me nowhere! At this rate, I'll still be looking for this thing when I'm an old man! Grargh!" He vented his feelings by kicking out, and received a sharp pain in his toe for hitting a tree.

As he continued walking, arms out and very frustrated, he suddenly stopped; he could swear he heard a faint ringing sound coming from somewhere deep within the grounds, like a bell.

"What's that?" he wondered. He tried to hear it again, and he could hear a bell-like sound plain as day. "Might as well try it out," said Kaji. "What's the worst that could happen?" he asked himself as he slowly made his way toward the source of the noise, and yelped as he tripped over a rock.

* * *

Hanabi wasted no time searching in every spot she could reach. Jumping from branch to branch, she left no stone unturned, stopping only to scan the area and to comb through the tall grass and holes in the trees. Despite her efforts however, she couldn't see any sign of anything resembling a talisman.

_"This is taking too long,"_ thought Hanabi as she stopped on a branch, _"I must've searched half of the grounds by now, and still nothing"_. She took a few minutes to catch her breath, although she knew she couldn't waste any more time. _"I wanted to save my Byakugan just in case I have to fight Shintaro-sensei, but it won't matter if I can't find my talisman in the first place."_

She was about to form the necessary hand seals, but something caught her eye; there was a small glint of light coming from a faraway tree. Looking up, she saw that the sun was blocked by a large cloud, casting a shade over the entire training grounds. Looking back at the suspicious spark, she noted that it resided inside the tree, hidden in a small hole embedded into the tree.

_"That's not sunlight. A hint? Or is it something more..." _she thought as she cautiously made her way towards the bright speck, a kunai gripped in her right hand.

* * *

Wasumaru had filled about half of his sketchbook with drawings of the training grounds. He covered a good amount of distance into the trees, but he had almost forgotten why he couldn't hear anything and exactly what he was supposed to be doing. He just had too much to draw; every vein on every leaf on every tree must be sketched. Every glint of morning dew on every blade of grass cannot be missed.

"Hmm?" Wasumaru looked at his latest sketch: an unusual object was laying in the middle of the path in his drawing. A scroll? He looked up from his pad and saw the small scroll. Well, something as mundane as this could not be allowed in his drawing.

Putting his pad and pen into his robes, he picked up the plain scroll. Rather than throwing it away however, curiosity got the better of him and he opened it. The fabric was blank save for two words:

"One solution?" read Wasumaru aloud.

The scroll burst into a puff of smoke. When it cleared, a shocked Wasumaru was left holding a small, wooden, six-sided talisman about the size of his palm.

"Hmm?" wondered Wasumaru as he looked at the name engraved on the talisman:

"Hanabi? This is Hanabi's," said Wasumaru to himself. He reasoned that the right thing to do is to give it to her. "Hanabi?" he called out, admittedly not much louder than normal as he began walking aimlessly off of the beaten path.

* * *

Kaji slowly followed the source of the odd ringing noise he heard just a moment ago. The noise was getting louder as he groped the darkness in front of him.

"It's getting louder. It can't be much higher tha- OW!"

He yelled in pain as his face collided with a tree. He could feel the tree sway with his weight, as well as the broken bridge of his nose.

"This sucks!" Kaji yelled as he prepared to aim a kick at the tree, but thought better of it. Once the ringing noise in his head cleared up, the ringing noise he was chasing seemed to come from above him.

"Hey, it's at the top of this tree, isn't it? Alright then!" He started to scurry up the tree, checking for branches along the way. When he finally reached the top, he groped around until his hand found a small bell that was ringing on its own. Feeling it with both hands, he felt a string attached to the bell that seemed to be attached to another small object. And that small object was...

"A talisman!" yelled Kaji as he felt the small wooden charm. He almost fell out of the tree in excitement. Climbing back down carefully, gripping the talisman in his mouth, he felt his feet touch the ground and said "I can't believe it! Ha! Looks like I'm going to be the first one to make it back!"

Jumping for joy, he took the talisman from his mouth and felt it with both hands, just to be sure it wasn't fake.

"Hey, there's something carved here," said Kaji. "Hmm, a name? Let's see... yep, it's definitely kanji..."

Eager that the talisman wasn't a fake, his features suddenly fell. "Wait, that's not my name, it's... Wasumaru's."

Faced with this new development, Kaji slumped against the tree in defeat. "It took me this long to find a talisman, and it's not even mine." He sighed, wondering what to do next. Suddenly, he perked up.

"Wait a minute; I have Wasumaru's talisman. That means the only way Wasumaru can get his talisman is to convince me to give it to him." He grinned as the plan slowly came to him. "It's a small chance that he's found a talisman by now, but even if he hasn't, I can still persuade him to help me."

Praising himself for his genius, he stood up and started calling out Wasumaru's name as he started slowly walking again.

* * *

Hanabi held in her hand a bright white wax candle with a plain wooden base. She didn't find anything else inside the hole of the tree. Jumping to its branches, she searched the tree right down to its last leaf. After five minutes of thorough searching, nothing turned up resembling a talisman.

_"That's odd; I know this candle didn't get here by accident. Then again, is it too much to hope for that our sensei would actually leave us clues?"_ she asked herself. Even though she didn't immediately find anything like a talisman, she couldn't help but feel that she was missing something.

She was about to examine the candle further when she heard a small voice from behind. "Hanabi,"

Whipping her kunai into a fighting stance, she relaxed when she saw Wasumaru standing in front of her. _"Wasumaru? What does he want?"_ wondered Hanabi. She was so startled to see him that she just noticed he was holding something.

"This is yours," said Wasumaru as he held it out; a small wooden talisman with her name engraved into it.

Eyes widened, she took the talisman from him. "Thank you Wasumaru."

Not being able to hear her, Wasumaru tilted his head to one side. At the same time, Hanabi realized that she just spoke. "It wore off?" she wondered as she looked down at her talisman and another discovery came to her; the base of the candle had the same shape and feel as the talisman in her hand.

She tried separating the base of the candle from the wax and wick and found that it came apart easily. Now in her hand was a second talisman with Kaji's name imprinted into the face. "So this is Kaji's, but Kaji's blind..."

She contemplated the candle; it was incredibly easy for her to spot it. However, it would have been near impossible for Kaji to find. It seemed as if the only way for Kaji to get his talisman was to fight Wasumaru or herself for it.

"Help! Anyone? Wasumaru-san? Hanabi-chan? Where are you guys?"

Wasumaru and Hanabi turned in the direction of the distressed voice and saw Kaji wandering in the distance, trying not to trip over any more rocks.

Hanabi sighed; the sight of Kaji sticking his arms out and screaming desperately was just too pathetic. Although most of her wanted her to stay put, she calmly walked over to Kaji, grabbed his arm, and shoved the talisman into his hand.

At once, Kaji's vision returned to him. "Huh? I can see now?" He looked around to be sure. "Ha! I can see! Yes! Hmm?" as he looked around, he stopped at the sight of Hanabi standing no more than a foot away.

"Hanabi-chan? What happened? Where's Wasumaru?" asked Kaji.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she replied "He's over there," and she pointed to Wasumaru, who had proceeded to draw his new surroundings on his pad as if he had wasted the whole morning. "I see you have his talisman," she said as she nodded towards his other hand. "It seems that once we get our talismans our handicaps are lifted."

Kaji wore a perplexed look on his face. "Lifted?" he wondered aloud as he looked down at his palm for the first time. When he saw that he had his talisman, his face transformed into a mischievous grin.

Eyes narrowed, Hanabi thought _"He isn't going to do what I think he's going to, is he?"_

With a small laugh, Kaji said "Hey, I have my talisman. And you know what that means..."

And he turned around and bolted as fast as he could in the general direction of the bench, leaving Hanabi to shake her head in exasperation. "Unbelievable. I hope Shintaro-sensei destroys him."

She looked at the ground; it seemed that Kaji left behind Wasumaru's talisman in his haste to be the first one back to the bench. Picking it up, she walked over to Wasumaru who was still drawing, and offered the talisman to him.

Hanabi had to hold the talisman almost right over his pad before Wasumaru noticed it. He took the talisman from her hand, said "thank you," and went right back to drawing.

"I guess it's pointless to ask you if you think Kaji can get past Shintaro-sensei," said Hanabi almost to herself. "Come on Wasumaru, Shintaro-sensei will probably be here soon to return Kaji's talisman."

When Wasumaru didn't respond, Hanabi sighed and proceeded to drag Wasumaru away from the tree by the collar. Oddly enough, the only sign that he gave of his disproval from being removed from his spot in this manner was ripping out the page he was working on, tossing it away into a nearby bush, and putting his pen and pad away; he could not complete the sketch now that he had moved from his position.

"I'm sorry Wasumaru, but there are more pressing matters at hand," said Hanabi as she dragged them both into a large bush. Once she decided they were both adequately hidden, she activated her Byakugan and focused on Kaji.

* * *

Still running at top speed, Kaji's grin had not changed since he left Hanabi and Wasumaru behind. "Ha ha! I did it! I've got my talisman, and now nothing's gonna stop me!" he said as the wooden bench came into view.

"Going somewhere?"

A blue and green blur came from out of nowhere and stopped right in front of Kaji, who stopped dead in his tracks. "Y-you!" Kaji yelled, pointing at the person now standing in his way.

"Surprised?" asked Shintaro, his hands clasped casually behind his back.

A flash of fear once etched on his face, Kaji jumped into a ready stance and said determinedly "No problem. I've got my talisman, and now I get to beat you up! I'll teach you to blind me!" He charged straight for his sensei. With a running leap, he pulled his fist back, gave a large battle cry, and put all of his power into the punch.

Shintaro easily blocked it with one hand. With Kaji's fist in his own grip, he told him "Impressive spirit, but it'll take a lot more than your brute strength to get past me."

"Is that so?" said Kaji, enraged. "Well then, give this a try!" He flipped backwards to create some space, kicking at Shintaro's arm to free his hand. As soon as he landed, he performed a series of hand seals. "Clone jutsu!"

Six images of Kaji surrounded the real one, and then split off into seven different directions. "See ya!" taunted all seven Kaji's.

A small smile forming on his face, Shintaro said "Good plan, just not good enough."

* * *

Kaji decided to take a longer path to the bench while a few of his shadow images make a break for the bench. Moving through bushes and heavy brush, he rested in a patch of heavy foliage with the bench about sixty feet away. "My plan must've worked. I don't see Shintaro-sensei anywhere," he said, looking around him.

Kaji took a couple of deep breaths, and then jumped out of the bushes to make a mad dash to the bench.

He was barely out of the leaves when Shintaro stood in his path, blocking Kaji's view of the bench as he held out a hand and said "If you're afraid of getting hurt, I'll gladly accept that talisman from you without a struggle."

"What?!? How did you know to chase after me?" asked a confused Kaji as he wondered how his blind sensei could possibly tell the real Kaji from six other images.

Shintaro answered with the air of being the teacher in a classroom "It was simple; you see, I have the ability to see chakra signatures. I could tell you apart from your doppelgangers just fine. Now, my offer to surrender still stands,"

"Like hell!" exclaimed Kaji, swiftly taking out two shuriken from his holster and flinging them at Shintaro.

"Nice throw; it's just a little bit off the mark I think," said a voice in his ear.

Kaji was shocked; he was now staring at thin air where his sensei used to be, and he just realized it was his sensei that was speaking right behind him. He quickly swung his arm around for a punch, but he was instantly met by a very sharp pain in his chest; Shintaro had ducked under his flailing arm and had sunk his own into Kaji's exposed stomach.

Kaji had been in fights before, but that last blow far outstripped anything he felt in his life, knocking the wind right out of him as if he had just run fifty miles. Before he could even try to inhale to get air back into his lungs, he was hit with a quick follow up to his temple that launched him several feet, coming to rest underneath a large tree.

He was barely conscious to hear Shintaro's next words; "You just rest there for a few minutes. When you're ready, you're welcome to try again."

Kaji clenched the talisman in his hand with all of his remaining strength, but Shintaro easily pried it from his fingers. When the touch of the wood left him, Kaji's entire world went dark.

* * *

Hanabi sat in waiting next to Wasumaru, who had begun to sketch the bush they were hiding in down to every last leaf. At last, she deactivated her Byakugan. "Shintaro-sensei's coming this way Wasumaru."

Wasumaru did not seem to hear her as he was now applying shading techniques to the sketch. He only stopped because he felt Hanabi grab his wrist. His mouth slightly open in bemusement, he looked up at Hanabi's face.

"Sorry Wasumaru, but we can't make the slightest bit of noise. Do you understand?" Hanabi whispered in an apologetic tone.

She let go of Wasumaru and turned back to the clearing, and almost gasped; Shintaro had already placed the talisman in the tree and was now walking towards their position, apparently because he heard something.

Hanabi prepared a surprise attack by taking out two kunai knives and activating her Byakugan. Just before Shintaro got close enough to attack however, he suddenly perked up, and headed in the opposite direction muttering "I didn't know they could move that fast."

When Shintaro was out of sight, Hanabi breathed a sigh of relief. Turning to Wasumaru who had resumed drawing, she asked "Did you do that?"

He looked up at Hanabi for a brief moment, and then went back to his drawing. "I don't like being disturbed," he muttered.

_"I'll keep that in mind,"_ thought Hanabi.

* * *

Kaji awoke with a throbbing headache and a persisting pain in his chest. "Wow, what hit me back there?" he said as he opened his eyes.

It didn't take him long to realize that he was once again blind. "No! It's back? Oh man, how long was I out?" wondered Kaji. He jumped up and started running in the direction where he thought he found Hanabi. About twenty feet later, he crashed headfirst into a large tree.

Landing flat on his back, Kaji cried out "This isn't fun anymore!"

"You still have time; about an hour and a half in fact."

Shintaro's voice seemed to taunt him in his blindness. "You again? C'mon, where are you? I'm not afraid of you!" yelled Kaji as he swung a wild fist in the direction of the voice.

The voice said "Calm down. You couldn't beat me with the use of your eyes. Now you think you have any sort of chance when you're blind?"

"You wait 'till I get that talisman again! You'll be sorry you made a fool out of me!" shouted Kaji into the darkness.

Kaji could feel Shintaro smiling as he said "But until then, I suggest you go back into the grounds. You can't afford to waste any more time here. You don't want to end up being like this for the whole day after all; by now, I expect the others are on their way to try their luck."

With a growl of frustration, Kaji slowly made his way into the grounds once more, arms out in front.

* * *

Hanabi checked the position of the sun. Turning to Wasumaru, she said "It's almost noon; we can't have more than an hour left."

She paused briefly to view Wasumaru's finishing touches on his last drawing. Over the course of the time they spent waiting in the bushes, Wasumaru had completed sketches of the clearing in front of them, the tree directly behind them, and the tree that held Kaji's talisman along with the new candle that sat atop of it. "Are you done with that?" she asked him.

Wasumaru looked up into Hanabi's white eyes for a brief moment. He gave a small nod, and put his pen and pad away.

Hanabi sighed and said "Good, 'cause I think I hear Kaji now."

If Kaji looked pathetic the first time he wandered into the clearing, Hanabi thought, this time he looked downright helpless. His arms were no longer in front of him; instead, they were drooping at his sides. He had dirt and leaves in his disheveled hair, he had a bruise on his left temple, and he seemed to be muttering halfheartedly "Hanabi-chan, where are you?"

Hanabi sighed again. Telling Wasumaru to follow her, she leapt out of the bush with her kunai in front, ran towards the tree, grabbed the candle, and took Kaji's talisman from underneath.

Walking over to Kaji, she said "Alright Kaji, I'm going to give you your talisman again. Now, you promise you won't do something stupid like running away?"

Kaji was too defeated to say anything, so he simply nodded.

Hanabi grabbed his left arm and placed the talisman in his hand. Kaji blinked a few times before he hung his head. "Sorry, Hanabi-chan,"

She looked at his forehead. "Well, I think you've been punished enough, judging from that bruise Shintaro-sensei gave you."

"He surprised me, that's all," muttered Kaji.

Eyes narrowed, Hanabi said "Save it; I saw the whole fight. Only one good came out of it, and that's the fact that I know we can't take Shintaro-sensei head on. We need a plan."

Kaji raised an eyebrow. "You want one of us to distract him so that the other two can get a shot at the bench? If that's your plan, then I'm not going to be the one getting the short end of the stick here."

Hanabi sighed as she said "Obviously, we need a plan that can not only get Shintaro-sensei out of the way, but also give each of us an equal chance at getting to the bench."

Kaji thought for a moment. "Images don't work on him, and I only have chakra left for one clone, maybe two."

"One clone?" wondered Hanabi as she calculated the odds. "That would keep Shintaro-sensei at bay for maybe a few seconds, and that's assuming he doesn't have a way to counter it." She went through all of their options. "Smoke bombs won't work, he can dodge shuriken and kunai easily, and I can't keep up my Gentle Fist style for long because I already used my Byakugan to watch your failed attempt at fighting Shintaro-sensei,"

Hanabi must have noticed the dirty look Kaji was giving her, for she then said "It wasn't like it was a complete waste of chakra; now I know some of his fighting capabilities."

"Gee, thanks," Kaji muttered.

Hanabi ignored him as she said "We need someone to hold off Shintaro-sensei long enough so the other two can set up some kind of a trap. And the trap has to be effective enough to hold him off for at least ten seconds."

She turned to Wasumaru, who was sitting on the ground drawing again, and said "Wasumaru?"

Pausing in mid-stroke, Wasumaru looked up at Hanabi and Kaji. Hanabi asked him "Can we depend on you for a genjutsu? It's really important."

He tilted his head slightly in thought, and then put away his pad and pen. Looking back up at Hanabi and Kaji, he gave a small nod.

"Alright then," said Hanabi. "Here's the plan..."

* * *

Shintaro stood guard at the bench. "Hmm, it must be nearly time now. I wonder if they're planning something,"

As he said it, Hanabi jumped out from a tree and landed gracefully on her feet some twenty feet away. "I'm sorry Shintaro-sensei, but I need to get past you, and you aren't going to stop me," said Hanabi with determination.

"Hmm? Hanabi Hyuga, is it?" said Shintaro casually. "I believe my file says you graduated at the top of your class, despite being three years younger than anyone else. Quite impressive indeed. However, you must know that it will take more than credentials to get past me."

"Oh, I know," said Hanabi as she shifted her legs, her left pointed towards her sensei while the other carried her weight. At the same time, her left arm rose to a defensive position in front of her while her right was held back for offense.

"Byakugan!" cried Hanabi as the veins near her eyes bulged from the extra chakra flowing into them. Immediately, she could see all around her at once, every living thing on the grounds could not hide from her now. Although she had all of this range in her vision, she only needed to focus on one thing; Shintaro was clearly visible along with his entire chakra network.

Her sensei almost smiled as he nodded "The Gentle Fist style. I've never faced it before, but I already know its effectiveness on the human body. It certainly seems," and he shifted into a ready position, "that this fight is going to be more interesting than Kaji's attempt."

When he had finished his sentence, Shintaro had already vanished. However, Hanabi saw through the move at once, and had already moved to block his punch when he moved behind her. Hanabi thrust with her right arm, aiming for his chest, but Shintaro grabbed her arm before her hand could make contact. He quickly released her as she aimed her left arm to strike his own.

_"I can't get hit once, or I'll be in trouble," _thought Shintaro as he ducked a roundhouse kick. He aimed to sweep the remaining leg, but Hanabi simply performed an elegant backflip and pushed forward upon landing.

Hanabi put all her strength into her next punch, but Shintaro grabbed her arm with both of his and used her momentum to fling her farther away from the bench. Hanabi had to twist in the air to land facing Shintaro, who had already started towards her.

Shintaro had his next attack prepared, however Hanabi yelled "Kaji, now!"

Startled, Shintaro focused on the bench; he could sense Kaji's chakra and his footsteps as he made a break for it about fifty feet away.

"A diversion? Clever," said Shintaro under his breath. He could not stop his momentum, so he took advantage of the small pause Hanabi took to aim a straight punch. Despite having her arms up, the blow was too much for Hanabi as she was launched a few more feet where she came to rest facedown in the grass.

Shintaro immediately rushed towards Kaji, who had almost reached the bench. Kaji had a strained expression on his face as he reached out, his arm clutching his talisman.

Kaji's hand was two inches from the bench when Shintaro's kick sent him flying. Watching Kaji sailing away, Shintaro said "Nice try, but it wasn't eno-"

He stopped short in midsentence, for Kaji exploded in a puff of white smoke. "A shadow clone?" wondered a shocked Shintaro. He barely had time to react when three kunai knives with ninja wire attached sailed past him. As Shintaro realized what had happened, the knives made a sharp turn and pulled the wires into Shintaro. When the knives wrapped themselves around a tree, the wires pinned Shintaro tightly onto a second tree near the bench.

Struggling to get free, Shintaro turned his head to see Kaji running from a third tree from where he had thrown the knives. Kaji had already embedded three more kunai knives with the other ends of the wires attached into the tree, and was sprinting with all of his might to the bench.

At the same time, Hanabi picked herself up after feinting unconsciousness, and she too was making a break for it. Wasumaru also started walking from another direction towards the bench; he had been hiding in the bushes the entire time.

When the dust had cleared, Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru all had their talisman on the bench. Hanabi and Kaji were arguing furiously about who had gotten to the bench first, and Wasumaru was silently looking at them.

"Alright, that's enough!" barked Shintaro, who was still pinned to the tree about ten feet away from the bench. Hanabi and Kaji shut up immediately to look at their sensei, mouths still open from quarrelling.

"Now listen; after observing your actions throughout this entire task, I know now that there is no need for further testing. I know exactly what to do with you three," he said in a menacing tone.

Hanabi and Kaji's faces of anger turned into faces of fear. As for Wasumaru, well, he was wondering when they could eat next; he was getting quite hungry.

* * *

Kaji: Uh, Hanabi-chan? What do you think our sensei meant when he said he knew what he was going to do with us?

Hanabi: I don't know! I can see why he'd be mad at you, but I performed pretty well,

Kaji: Hey, don't sell me short! Without my help, we wouldn't have reached the bench, which I did before you by the way.

Hanabi: No way! Besides, judging from Shintaro-sensei's mood, it seems like we're headed back to the academy anyway...

Wasumaru: I'm hungry...

Kaji: Worry about that later Wasumaru. Man, if I have to go back to the academy, I think I'll feel too sick to ever eat again!

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Finally Ninja? The Results of the Test!

Kaji: Please let us pass, please let us pass, please let us pass!

* * *

Ninja Academy Training

(Hanabi and Kaji are standing in the training grounds while Wasumaru is drawing nearby)

Hanabi: Today, we're going to demonstrate my Gentle Fist style.

Kaji: Boring...

Hanabi: *glares at Kaji before looking back* The Gentle Fist style is performed by forcing some of the user's own chakra into the opponent's chakra pathway system upon striking. Because the chakra pathway is invisible however, only those with the Byakugan can use this style.

Kaji: Meh, I don't like it; looks more like dancing to me,

Hanabi: *pulls down a chart depicting the chakra pathway system* Here, you can clearly see that the chakra pathway system is essential to the function of the entire body. If this flow of chakra is disrupted, the whole body can be paralyzed, or worse.

Kaji: Man, what's the worse that could happen? I could probably take that,

Hanabi: *Narrows eyes* Hyah! *gives four quick strikes to Kaji's limbs*

Kaji: *stares briefly, then crumples to the ground in a heap*

Hanabi: As you can see, if the limbs are targeted, they become useless due to the disrupted chakra flow.

Kaji: ...ow...I can't move...a little help please?

Hanabi: *shrugs* You can still breathe. Besides, the effects should wear off after a couple of hours. *walks off*

Kaji: This seriously hurts guys...Wasumaru? C'mon, do something…

Wasumaru: *turns to Kaji, then starts drawing him*

Kaji: ...oh...

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Wasumaru Zakūusho

Gender: Male

Birthdate: Unknown

Estimated Age: 13

Height: 140.3 cm

Weight: 39.2kg

Blood Type: A

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Unknown, but is known to mix different flavors

Dislikes: Unknown, but is never seen eating bland foods

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know it's been six months, but I'm sorry. My senior year of college really took a toll on me. The good news is that I'm working on this fic again, and I'm fairly certain, barring some life-changing event, that the next update will come within two and a half weeks, maybe even less than that if I'm dilligent. (Jeez, I hate being lazy)

Until next time!


	4. Finally Ninja? The Results of the Test!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 4: Finally Ninja? The Results of the Test!

Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru had all reached the bench with their talismans in hand. Hanabi and Kaji had just started arguing about who had gotten there first while Wasumaru was staring at the two.

"Alright, that's enough!" barked Shintaro from a tree which he was tied down to by three wires. Hanabi and Kaji both turned their heads towards their sensei, both of them apprehensive.

"Now listen; after observing your actions throughout this entire task, I know now that there is no need for further testing. I know exactly what to do with you three," he said as Hanabi and Kaji trembled in fear.

"W-w-what do you mean?" asked Kaji. "We all got our talismans to the bench. You're not sending us back to the academy, are you?"

"Back to the academy? Oh no, that won't be necessary," said Shintaro as an evil smile crept upon his face. Hanabi and Kaji prepared for the worst, the latter hunched down and covering his head with his arms.

"You three are going to report to me tomorrow morning for our first mission," said Shintaro calmly.

It took a few seconds for the message to sink in, and then Hanabi breathed a sigh of relief while Kaji gave a fist pump. "Yes! I'm a genin now! Finally, we're ninja! Yes!" yelled Kaji. Hanabi couldn't help but smile, and even Wasumaru's expression almost reflected one of delight.

Kaji was still celebrating as he said "You passed us because we outsmarted you, right?"

"Actually, no," said Shintaro from behind them.

Hanabi and Kaji jumped and turned to face Shintaro who was standing only feet away. "What? But how did you, I, you, wha?" wondered Kaji as he turned back to the Shintaro who was still tied against the tree.

As he looked back, the pinned Shintaro vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the wires to fall to the ground. _"A clone and substitution jutsu?"_ wondered Hanabi as Kaji was still sputtering, perplexed.

"Even if only one of you had managed to get their talisman here, I still would have passed all three of you. Do you know why?" asked Shintaro, looking around at the three of them.

Kaji shrugged while Wasumaru simply stared at him. However, Hanabi was thinking back to how she found Kaji's talisman. She thought aloud "I found Kaji's talisman under a lit candle. It was easy for me to find, but it would've been impossible for Kaji."

Shintaro nodded as he turned to Kaji and said "What about you?"

After a moment of pondering, Kaji said "I found Wasumaru's attached to a bell. I guess it would've been impossible for him to find too."

Hanabi then said "Wasumaru-san found mine, but he didn't tell me where he got it,"

"I'll tell you," said Shintaro. "He found it inside a scroll which required a spoken password to open. Needless to say, you would have found it very difficult to open it yourself.

"Speaking of doing things by yourself," and he turned towards Kaji, "that was very foolish of you to think that you could take on a jonin on your own when you haven't had any experience in real missions."

Embarrassed, Kaji said "Well, I had to be the first one to get there,"

"And therefore you didn't grasp the real point of this test," said Shintaro. "Can anyone tell me what the point of all of this was?"

Hanabi thought for a moment, but in the end she knew deep down that she had known the answer ever since she found Kaji's talisman. "We were supposed to work together."

With a nod, Shintaro said "And it's a good thing you found that out in the nick of time; all of you nearly failed."

"Wait, what?" Kaji exclaimed, "You told us that the first one to reach the bench would win!"

"And it would have been impossible to complete this task on your own!" said Shintaro, a stern look etched on his face. "A ninja must work together for the sake of the mission. Ninjas cannot seek personal glory, or the mission will be compromised. Worst case scenario; lives are lost."

Shintaro crouched down so he was about level with his students and said "I've been on many complex missions that required expert timing and coordination. That kind of teamwork is impossible without the utmost faith in your comrades. That's how I got this." He lifted the red blindfold so the three of them could see his left eye, and Hanabi and Kaji gasped.

Where there should have been an eye was glossy charred skin, as if someone held a firecracker to his face. His eye had been burned right out of its socket. "I got this because I didn't trust my comrades," said Shintaro bitterly. "I went in before I received the order from my squad leader because I thought the others wouldn't make the right decision. I was captured by the enemy and tortured for information. Fortunately, my squad mates pulled me out before I was killed."

"How did you lose your other..." Hanabi began to ask, but Shintaro replaced the blindfold and said "Fortunately, you all worked together, albeit at the last possible minute, to complete your task.

"I was quite impressed. Let me see if I can figure out exactly what happened," thought Shintaro aloud. He turned to Hanabi and said "You came out to distract me, correct?"

Hanabi nodded. "I was the most capable fighter in the group, so it was my job to keep you at bay long enough for Kaji to set up the trap."

"But you deliberately took my blow then?" wondered Shintaro. "That meant that you all wanted an equal chance to complete the task for yourselves if you stopped me. Well, no matter then..."

He then turned to Kaji, who still wore a triumphant grin. "So, you know the true shadow clone jutsu then? Very impressive for a genin..."

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty proud of it," said Kaji, still grinning foolishly.

With a small nod, Shintaro said "You placed a sufficient amount of chakra into the clone so that I couldn't tell the difference. That requires remarkable chakra control."

He continued "So, you were behind that tree waiting for Hanabi-chan's signal, but I should have been able to sense you, unless," and Shintaro smiled as he finally acknowledged Wasumaru. "But of course; a genjutsu to mask your presence. Very impressive indeed," said Shintaro. "I've always thought genjutsuists need to rely on eye contact with their opponent in order to use genjutsu effectively. Evidently, you do not need that, do you? I wasn't prepared for it."

Wasumaru had already begun to retrieve his drawings from the bench, finally dry from the warm sun, as well as gathering up his art supplies. As he heard these words, Hanabi and Kaji thought he smiled for a fraction of a second.

Shintaro stood up and said "Good job to you all. Tomorrow, Team Three will report to the Hokage tower at eight o'clock to receive your first mission. Dismissed!" And with that, Shintaro instantly vanished, leaving the three of them left to celebrate their victory.

* * *

"Yeah! Genin! Finally! Man, I wonder what our first mission's going to be," wondered Kaji.

"Must you be so loud?" asked Hanabi, although she could not suppress a grin for today.

Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru were waiting outside of the Hokage tower, having become official ninjas less than twenty-four hours ago. Leaning against the walls at the base of the tower, Hanabi and Kaji were waiting for their sensei to come back down from the mission office. Sitting on the ground, Wasumaru was drawing away as usual, his color pastel kit out as he drew the main streets of Konohagakure in vivid detail. Hanabi glanced at his drawing several times, but there was always an annoying glare from Wasumaru's headband on his right arm, and consented to staring ahead, arms folded.

Kaji was pondering with excitement. "Maybe we'll protect a daimyo, or snatch an ancient artifact, or thwart some sinister plot of an untold nature!"

"I doubt they'd give us anything like that for our first mission," yawned Hanabi. "They usually leave that kind of stuff up to the more experienced ninja."

"A guy can hope though," said Kaji. "If we're lucky, it'll involve rescuing a damsel in distress," he sighed as fantasies ran through his mind of risking life and limb to best an army of cronies, defeating a giant iron-armored man with one punch, and an incredibly beautiful woman giving him her eternal thanks.

"We'll be lucky to leave the village on our first mission," muttered Hanabi, although Kaji seemed not to have heard her.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Shintaro finally descended the stairs that led from the tower, propping himself against the railing with his left arm. "Yes, here it comes!" said Kaji, anxiously watching his sensei progress down the stairs.

When Shintaro reached the bottom, he addressed his students. "Alright Team Three, I've got your first mission,"

"About time!" grinned Kaji.

"And I can see that you are all ready for it," smiled Shintaro. "This mission is of utmost importance. You will need discipline, stamina, and bravery to complete it."

"Bring it on!" said Kaji in his bravest voice. "I'll tackle any challenge in my way!"

"Say that a little louder Kaji; I don't think they heard you from the academy," said Hanabi with a hint of a smirk.

"I'm not gonna let you spoil this Hanabi-chan," said Kaji, still grinning. "This is the first step for me. Action and adventure is what I live for. This is gonna be awesome!"

* * *

"This sucks!" yelled Kaji under the weight of three bags of rice.

Their first mission turned out to be helping an injured farmer move his produce from the storage room to the carts to be hauled away to the shops across town. The damsel in distress that Kaji fantasized about was instead a middle-aged man who sprained his ankle, and the adventure was instead moving hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of stock.

Shintaro was supervising the team as Kaji threw the heavy bags onto the cart and groaned in pain as he went back for more. Hanabi was not complaining; however there was no possibility that her expression could be confused for joy as she carried two bags of potatoes to the cart. Wasumaru had one bag of spices in one arm, his pad in his opposite hand, and his pen in his mouth as he tried to draw the crops while working.

"I can't thank you enough for this," said the worn out farmer to Shintaro. "I would've had a serious setback in income if you hadn't shown up. Then again, probably wouldn't need you at all if I hadn't tripped over that root," and he shifted his weight on his crutch, his ankle in a splint.

"Nonsense," said Shintaro, smiling. "We're glad to help."

"Speak for yourself," muttered Kaji under his breath as he carried a hefty bag of onions.

* * *

It was noon, and Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru had already eaten their meager rations for lunch. The three were now taking a break in front of the Hokage tower. Shintaro had gone to the mission office to give them their second mission; however, the team seemed to be worn out from the first one.

"Man, what the hell was that?" asked Kaji as he rubbed his lower back.

"That was a D-rank mission," said Hanabi, sitting against the wall, eyes closed from fatigue.

Wasumaru, having already completed his drawing of the streets, started on a color drawing of a resting carrier pigeon.

"I can't believe we were stuck loading supplies for three hours," groaned Kaji, lying down on the dirt.

"At least our first mission was a success," muttered Hanabi, although clearly disappointed that their first mission wasn't anything exciting.

"I think I succeeded in throwing my back out," said Kaji, not moving from his position. "I could sleep here..."

That was when Shintaro came down from the steps, a smile on his face. "Alright team, I've got your second mission."

Kaji immediately jumped up. "Forget sleep! I'm ready to kick butt! What is it? Does it involve incredible danger? Stop leaving me in suspense!"

With a short laugh, Shintaro said "Don't worry; the next mission has quite a bit of danger involved."

"Sweet! Alright, what is it? C'mon, give it to us!" said Kaji, completely forgetting about the pain in his back.

* * *

Unfortunately, Kaji was reminded of that pain in his back very quickly; their next mission was to polish all of the tiles on the roof of a daimyo's house. The black roof stretched around a magnificent stone courtyard and, to Kaji and Hanabi, never seemed to end.

Putting soap on what felt like the millionth ceramic tile, Kaji muttered "Sensei never told us that 'danger' meant 'getting the skin on our hands to come off'."

"Actually Kaji-san," said Shintaro, standing on the roof next to them, "I was referring to the possibility that you could fall off."

Hanabi paused briefly to wipe some sweat off of her brow before wiping a tile dry. Wasumaru kept trying to sketch a different view of the courtyard, one knee holding down the pad as he drew with one hand and washed the tiles with his other hand.

However, Kaji was working nonstop, eager to get the mission over with. Despite being the hardest worker out of the three, Kaji did not hesitate to complain. "This is stupid! What kinda ninja does this work? Doesn't the daimyo have servants for this?"

Shintaro replied "His servants are busy cleaning the inside of his house. We're here to cut down the time it would normally take to get this house looking brand new." He bent down and rubbed one finger on a tile that Kaji had polished earlier. Feeling a tiny bit of dirt between his fingers, he said "Make sure you're thorough with the polish, and careful around the edge; we wouldn't want any accidents."

Kaji turned to look at Shintaro while using both arms to polish a tile at the edge of the roof. "Whatever! I'm a ninja; I have cat-like reflexes. There's no way I'm gonna fa-"

But whatever Kaji was going to say next was cut short; his hands slid out from under him due to the polished tile, and he was falling headfirst off of the roof.

Hanabi barely had time to yell "Kaji!" before he slid almost completely out of sight. On the way down, Kaji tried to latch on to the roof.

"Gotcha!" yelled Kaji, holding on to a tile protruding from the edge. "Whew! That was clo-"

At that moment, the tile came loose from the roof from Kaji's weight, and Shintaro, Hanabi, and Wasumaru all heard him scream for a half second, followed by a dull thud and a groan. Leaving her rag where it lay, Hanabi carefully made her way to the edge and peered over. Shintaro and Wasumaru soon followed.

Kaji was flat on his back, completely out of breath from having fallen ten feet onto the stone courtyard. He did manage to gasp "Well, at least that pain in my back doesn't bother me anymore; now my whole body hurts too much to tell the difference..."

With a small sigh of relief and her eyes narrowed, Hanabi said "Cat-like reflexes, huh? You didn't land on your feet..."

Shintaro had to stifle a laugh before saying "I don't mean to be insensitive Kaji-san, but that tile has to be replaced."

"Oh shut up. Man, I think I'll just die here," said Kaji as Wasumaru tried to draw him with the courtyard.

* * *

Over the next couple of days, Shintaro signed the team up for more D-rank missions, all of which Kaji was disappointed with. With much of his protesting, Kaji, Hanabi, and Wasumaru went shopping for an elderly woman, rescued a cat from a tree for a little girl, went dumpster-diving for an old family heirloom that was accidentally taken away by the dog, and cleaned the academy playground of trash after hours.

Finally, one morning when Shintaro was going to sign them up for chicken feeding, Kaji snapped. "That's enough!" he yelled at Shintaro as he made his way up the steps of the Hokage tower, drawing looks from anyone within earshot. "No more! That's it! I've had it! No more of these boring odd jobs! I want a C-rank mission damnit, now!"

"A C-rank mission?" asked Shintaro as if he had never heard of such a thing before. "Are you sure you're ready?"

Kaji bellowed "I've been ready since you made us clean up horse droppings! Give us a harder mission already!"

"Please sensei," said Hanabi, giving a glance at Kaji that told him to calm down, "I think we all want a mission that befits our talents. I mean, we'll never become better by doing D-rank missions forever."

Shintaro smiled at them before saying "Well, I guess you've had enough of these then. Very well; let's get our first C-rank mission."

"Yes! Finally, a chance to kick butt! Yeah!" celebrated Kaji as the three of them followed Shintaro up the steps into the mission office.

* * *

"So, you want a C-rank mission eh?" said Iruka behind the mission desk.

"You betcha!" said Kaji eagerly.

Team Three was standing in front of a long desk with Iruka, Lady Tsunade, Shizune holding Tonton, and three officials behind it. To Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru, this was the first time any of them have seen the Lady Hokage in person. Hanabi bit her lip at Kaji speaking so informally in front of her. On the other hand, Wasumaru was sitting cross-legged drawing Tsunade's portrait, complete with the red Hokage hat.

"And you're sure your team will be capable of handling it, Shintaro?" asked Tsunade as she looked at the mission list.

"I think my opinion is irrelevant Lady Hokage," grinned Shintaro. "I believe Kaji is ready to fight me himself if I don't give him a C-rank mission."

"I've never been a man of patience," said Kaji as he returned the grin to his sensei.

Iruka almost smiled with them as he said "I can attest to that."

"So can I," muttered Hanabi.

After looking over the mission list, Lady Tsunade said to Team Three "Your first mission will be to protect a daimyo of a small village in the Land of Petals, just outside of the Land of Fire."

"Yes! Now that's what I'm talking about!" yelled Kaji, his arms behind his head. "Protect a daimyo, huh? That means we'll be fending off assasins! This is going to be great! Finally, a chance to show what I'm all about!"

"Relax Kaji-san," said Shintaro. "The Land of Petals is a small non-military village that survives solely on trading. We may not get to see combat at all if we're lucky, and certainly not from other ninjas."

At this, Kaji turned to Shintaro and said "Hey, don't say that, you'll bum me out!"

Shintaro said sternly "Now Kaji-san, a ninja never seeks battle, although he realizes that he must fight when necessary,"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So where is this daimyo?" said Kaji eagerly, rubbing his hands together.

"Alright, settle down kid," said Tsunade, filling out some paperwork. "Lord Kandegawa should meet you outside of the city gate in an hour, so I'd pack and head over there now."

"No problem!" yelled Kaji, and without another word, he ran out of the office, undoubtedly headed for the city gate.

Hanabi sighed as the rest of them bowed and turned to leave. "Kaji'll probably attract every assassin around if he keeps making that much noise..."

* * *

Shintaro followed by Hanabi and Wasumaru, the latter of which was sketching random subjects throughout town, made their way to the city gates. Shintaro and Wasumaru had beige traveling packs on their backs while Hanabi had a dark pack that matched her outfit.

Shintaro had Wasumaru and Hanabi meet him in the center of town, and the three of them decided to go to the gates without waiting for Kaji. "He's probably already there by now anyway," muttered Hanabi.

She was right; when they came upon the gate, Kaji was standing there, a brown pack on his back. By the disappointment on Kaji's face, Lord Kandegawa hadn't arrived yet.

"What gives?" wondered Kaji, scouting the outside of the city walls. "I don't see him anywhere. Lady Hokage said he should be here by now!"

"Well, obviously she assumed we would walk," said Shintaro. "Haste offers no reward, Kaji-san."

"You guys walked," Kaji pointed out, "and he's still not here."

"Do you think something happened to him on the way here?" wondered Hanabi.

"Aw man," said Kaji, and he dropped. "If so, then I packed all of this for nothing!"

"Kaji!" said Hanabi indignantly, "You're so insensitive! If something _had _happened to him, I bet he's cursing you from heaven right now!"

"But as nothing has happened to him yet, we'll worry about Kaji-san's lack of tact later," said Shintaro as he nodded toward the horizon.

As Hanabi and Kaji looked down the road (Wasumaru was drawing the surrounding trees, and therefore did not notice), three men slowly came into view. As they came closer, Hanabi and Kaji could see that the one in the middle was unmistakably the daimyo lord; he wore regal robes of light green and a matching tall hat. Given his stout stature, Hanabi thought, he appeared to be pampered and well fed. The two men that flanked him appeared to be bodyguards, although from their weary appearance, shabby outfits, and rusted spears, they didn't seem to have any formal training.

When the daimyo finally reached them, he smiled and said in a pompous voice "Ah, and these must be the ninjas I hired. How do you do? I'm Lord Kandegawa."

"I'm Kaji Sogeki," said Kaji, seemingly wanting to add "and what kept you?"

"I'm Hanabi Hyuga," said Hanabi, bowing. "And this is Wasumaru-san," she said, indicating the boy sitting next to them.

If it was possible, Lord Kandegawa's smile seemed to widen. "And you are?" he asked Shintaro.

"Shintaro Misumi," he replied, also bowing. "It's true that we were assigned to protect you, but it looks like you've already got protection."

"Oh, these two?" laughed Kandegawa, jerking his thumb at his guards. "They're mostly for appearances. I'd wager that they'd drop their spears at the sign of a band of lowly bandits!"

Hanabi thought his remark was quite harsh, although the expressions on his guards showed no signs of disagreement.

Lord Kandegawa sighed and said "Well then, let's not dilly-dally; I only left the sanctuary of my castle for a brief moment, but I'm afraid it may have been under attack for quite some time now..."

Shintaro raised an eyebrow as he asked "And why is that?"

His wide smile shifted into one of grief. "Let us walk; I'll explain on the way."

The journey to the Land of Petals was a two-day walk, so Hanabi and the rest of Team Three understood why Lord Kandegawa was being hasty. As they walked down the road, Lord Kandegawa began to explain the situation at the Land of Petals. "As you know, or may not know, our village is very diminutive compared to other villages, and as such we are always struggling to keep the economy up.

"Unfortunately, since we are not a ninja village and therefore lack the means to protect ourselves from thieves and the like, our village always suffers from poverty and fear of attack, especially from neighboring villages. This leads the morale of the townspeople to be a little, unstable," he finished, twiddling his thumbs with worry.

"How unstable?" asked Shintaro.

"Well," said Kandegawa, no longer bearing a smile, "as you can imagine, in the people's eyes, the blame for all of the suffering in the village falls on the leader. I mean, I do my best from keeping the village from falling apart, but that doesn't stop them from letting me know what they think of me."

"Is it that bad?" wondered Kaji aloud.

Turning to him, Kandegawa replied "Let me put it this way; on good days, I hear whispers behind my back that suggest anyone would make a better leader than myself. On bad days, people set their dogs on me, I get rocks thrown at me, and, in the worst cases, they openly attack me. I've spent the past weeks holed up in my castle, sending my servants undercover to buy food so the shopkeepers won't know it's for me."

"That doesn't seem very fair," said Hanabi, feeling pity for the man.

Kandegawa smiled wearily and said "Well, perhaps if I had the charisma of our previous leader, Lord Hajishime, the people would look up to me instead of fantasizing about ways to execute me..."

"I suppose that's where we come in?" asked Shintaro, as if he didn't know.

Turning away from them, Kandegawa said "I have a plan that will secure the financial state of our village; a plan that will only work if I'm alive. I just need you to protect me from any attacks or riots until then."

"Sounds like butt-kicking to me," said Kaji, a grin forming on his face.

"Kaji," scolded Hanabi, "however ungrateful these people may seem, they're still innocent bystanders. We shouldn't look forward to fighting them!"

"Might as well; sounds like we ain't got a choice, right?" shrugged Kaji as Hanabi sighed in exasperation.

* * *

The first night went without a hitch; Lord Kandegawa slept in a lavish tent while everyone else slept in sleeping bags, although the guards offered to keep watch. For Hanabi, it was her first time lying exposed under the starry sky, although a persisting noise ruined the experience for her; Kaji had begun to snore a few feet away from her. Finally, after a few hours of twisting and turning, Hanabi forced herself to sleep, the mission in the front of her mind until the end.

When morning broke, Hanabi awoke to the sound of Kaji's snoring. Muttering under her breath, she got up and walked over to Kaji. "Kaji, time to get up," she said. The only response that he gave was turning away from Hanabi, snoring as loud as ever.

Although she didn't want to resort to it, she admitted it gave her some satisfaction for only getting six hours of sleep as she gave Kaji a kick square to his back.

"Ow! Hey, what's the big ide-, oh, it's you Hanabi-chan," he yawned. Scratching his back, he asked "Where's Wasumaru?"

Hanabi turned to Wasumaru's sleeping bag only to find it empty. A wave of concern vanished immediately when she spotted him several feet away, sketching the scenery on his pad. "I guess he's already awake Kaji," she said as she turned back to Kaji, who had fallen asleep again.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Hanabi as she kicked him again ("Ow!") and said "You're lucky you got a full night's worth of sleep since you can't hear your own snoring! I bet you kept our Sensei up all last night too!" She turned to Shintaro, who had just woken up. "Morning already?" he wondered as he stretched.

"Oh, sensei," said Hanabi, embarrassed, "please forgive me for waking you, but I just thou-"

She was cut short by Shintaro, who had just taken out his earplugs. Smiling, he asked "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that; did you say something?"

"...no sensei," Hanabi muttered.

At that point, Lord Kandegawa emerged from his tent, his smile as bright as ever. "Well, did everyone else have a good sleep then?"

With a sigh, Hanabi said "I guess so..."

* * *

"So, what's it like at your village?" asked Kaji once they were all on the move again.

"Oh, it's actually nothing compared to your village, as you can imagine," said Kandegawa, his smile faltering. "I mean, I suppose the only impressive part of our village is the castle, and even that's nothing when you consider,"

But at that point, Shintaro yelled "Get down!"

Everyone ducked except for Shintaro; he had drawn his sword, his face alert. Hanabi didn't have to look long for the reason, as twelve shuriken were thrown from the trees from three different directions toward Shintaro.

With unparalleled speed, Shintaro's blade flashed, and all twelve shuriken were deflected harmlessly away from him. "Kaji, Hanabi, Wasumaru; protect Kandegawa! Hanabi; you're going to have to be their eyes!"

As Shintaro rushed off the path towards the source of the shuriken, Hanabi, Kaji, Wasumaru (no longer holding his pad or pen), and the two guards surrounded Kandegawa, who was crouched as low as possible.

"Byakugan!" yelled Hanabi. Her eyes focused on everything within five hundred feet as her veins pumped extra chakra into them.

As Kaji brought out two kunai into a fighting stance, he glanced at Hanabi. "So, I guess it's finally time for some action then?"

Hanabi didn't answer; she was too busy looking past the trees, past all of the foliage all around them. Her eyes stopped briefly on Shintaro, rushing towards a masked ninja who had drawn his sword. On the other side of the path, she saw two more masked men about a hundred feet apart; one with a kusarigama, the other with metal gauntlets. "Two coming from the left; they're going to flank us," she said, taking out a kunai herself.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Kaji, a determined grin on his face.

* * *

Kaji: Alright! Time to show these guys what a Leaf Village ninja can do!

Hanabi: Stop talking and help me! I can't take these two by myself! Then again, I may not need your help after all.

Kaji: Hey; don't think I'm gonna let'cha have all of the fun. This is my first ninja on ninja battle, and I won't mess this up!

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Petals in Peril: The Confrontation!

Kaji: Get ready for some pain, losers!

* * *

(Second day of traveling, Hanabi is walking alongside Shintaro)

Hanabi: Hey, Shintaro-sensei?

Shintaro: Yes Hanabi-chan?

Hanabi: Where did you get those earplugs?

Shintaro: They're my design; I feel everyone deserves a nice, quiet sleep when they want it.

Hanabi: Aren't you worried about being attacked at night? With those earplugs, you can't see or hear anything.

Shintaro: I'm not concerned; my nose let's me know if anyone gets too close. You'd be surprised how smelly ninja can be.

Hanabi: ...Can I have a pair?

Shintaro: Only 100 Ryō.

Hanabi: You're charging?

* * *

Note from the Author: Why Hanabi?

When I decided to make a Naruto fic, it didn't take me long to base it on Hanabi Hyuga. I like to have my fics follow canon as closely as possible, so it really couldn't be focused on anyone too important. I chose Hanabi because she seemed like she had so much potential to have some involvement with the story, but was never really used. You could say I felt sorry for her!

The hardest thing about writing Hanabi was giving her the right personality; there really wasn't much to go on, as she only has a few lines of dialogue in the anime. I considered her upbringing, how she was put through vigorous training by her father, and decided that she would be very disciplined. She also has a strong sense of justice, as seen in the first chapter of the fic. All in all, I think I did a fairly good job in portraying her character, and I would like to beg Masashi Kishimoto to have Hanabi make an appearance in Shippuden. (A still frame at a funeral doesn't count!)

* * *

A/N: Cool; got this up in two weeks to the day. I hope I can keep this pace going, but I should since it's getting easier now. Until next time!


	5. Petals in Peril: The Confrontation!

A/N: Due to reviewer request, the tidbit shown at the break in the middle of the chapter will now be shown at the end of the chapter. I hope this will make reading this story more enjoyable.

* * *

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 5: Petals in Peril: The Confrontation!

The situation was not good. Hanabi spotted three enemy ninja, one of which was engaged in battle with Shintaro, and the other two were coming from opposite ends of the path to cut off escape routes. Hanabi and Kaji had to protect Lord Kandegawa, who was cowering behind his two guards who also seemed like they would drop their spears and cower. Wasumaru was still crouched and, although he was no longer drawing, he was not holding a weapon and therefore Hanabi could not count him towards their arsenal, despite his ability to cast genjutsu.

"Kaji, keep an eye on Wasumaru; I'm going to protect our flank!" said Hanabi as she jumped gracefully over Lord Kandegawa and his terrified guards, pulling out a kunai in the process, and landed into her Gentle Fist stance.

"Aw man, I don't wanna hafta babysit too," yelled Kaji in reply, although he shuffled one step closer towards Wasumaru.

"He's coming at you now with a kusarigama, eight meters away!" yelled Hanabi as her own opponent leapt in front of her. About four meters away, he was a large, broad man dressed in black ninja gear, his hands covered in iron gauntlets. With her Byakugan, Hanabi could also see that he was wearing heavy iron armor under his gear to match his gauntlets.

In a loud voice, he grunted "I am Tego, one half of the Kensugi brothers. Give up now, or I'll smash you!"

"You can give up right now and spare yourself a lot of pain," replied Hanabi impassively to the intimidating man in front of her.

Without another word, Tego charged for Hanabi, bringing his fists to bear. To put distance away from Lord Kandegawa and her assailant, Hanabi rushed forward to meet him. She sidestepped a punch and grabbed the arm that threw it. Before she could disable it however, her assailant threw a punch with the other arm, which Hanabi narrowly ducked as she pushed the arm she was grabbing away.

His side exposed, Hanabi delivered a strike with her palm, trying to break past the metal armor.

It did not fully work; although Tego staggered a bit, he was still able to answer with a right hook that grazed Hanabi's cheek. Even though she was only scratched by the blow, the force still sent her flying towards the trees. Ignoring the welt that formed next to her lip, she planted herself on the tree and threw her kunai at his face, the one spot that didn't have armor.

Tego barely got his hands up to guard the kunai, which bounced off harmlessly against the iron. When he lowered his arms however, Hanabi was already in his face, landing a kick that sent him sprawling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Kaji's opponent was swinging a five meter chain with a small metal weight in one hand, and a kama attached to the same chain in his other. From his smaller size, Kaji knew that he was built for speed and technique.

In a fierce voice, the man said "I am Hayaku Kensugi. Surrender now, or be cut to ribbons!"

"Bring it on; I love a challenge!" yelled Kaji before rushing forward.

On his way towards his opponent, Hayaku swung the weight and chain at Kaji, who flipped over it. While he was in the air, Kaji threw one of his kunai at Hayaku; he blocked it with the flat blade of the scythe. The chain still whipping through the air, he aimed for Kaji's legs as he landed. The momentum wrapped the chain around Kaji's legs, and Hayaku pulled, making Kaji land unceremoniously on his back.

As Kaji struggled to get free, his opponent lunged forward with the kama, and stabbed Kaji through the chest. "Now you die," said Hayaku with a sneer.

The look of triumph on his face quickly faded as Kaji exploded in white smoke. Eyes widened, he looked up to see where his quarry had gone.

"I'm right here!" yelled a voice from behind. Hayaku turned his head just in time to see a fist blocking his entire vision. A resounding crack echoed through the air as the masked ninja was sent flying to land at Wasumaru's feet.

Wasumaru, who had taken his pad and pen out, gave Hayaku a quizzical look. When he menacingly glared back at Wasumaru, Wasumaru responded by jabbing his pen brush into his right eye.

The air was now full of agonizing screams as Hayaku writhed around in pain, clutching his swollen eye while Wasumaru was now sketching his actions. Kaji was holding his stomach, trying in vain not to laugh. On the other side of Kandegawa and his guards, Hanabi could not hold back a gleeful smile.

"You little runt! You'll pay for that!" Hayaku yelled at Wasumaru, struggling to his feet. Shaking his head in an attempt to ignore the pain, Hayaku tried to stab Wasumaru with his kama.

Before the blade could touch Wasumaru's forehead however, he could feel something slowing the blade down; a strand of ninja wire had wrapped around the shaft of the kama.

"Did'ya forget?" taunted Kaji from behind, holding the long strand of ninja wire. "Your opponent is me!"

Kaji threw the kunai that had been blocked earlier at his back; Hayaku had to use his chain like a whip to deflect the kunai away. Rage etched on his face, he raced toward Kaji, realizing too late that he held a second strand of ninja wire in his other hand.

Hayaku stopped just in time; Kaji had attached the thrown kunai with that strand of wire beforehand, and was now whipping it around to attack. He narrowly dodged the kunai, which tore a scratch in the fabric across his chest.

"Careful there!" yelled Kaji, a grin on his face as he began twirling the kunai around. Clenching his teeth, Hayaku tried to follow the kunai, but Kaji was whipping the wire with the kunai around himself, his neck, his leg, his arm, building up kinetic energy. Finally, Kaji released the kunai, which shot towards his opponent. Craning his head, Hayaku barely dodged a fatal blow, the kunai leaving a scratch on his face.

Feeling a small drop of blood flowing down his cheek, Hayaku growled as he turned to watch Kaji, who was repeating this performance. The kunai had already been pulled back for a second attempt, twirling and falling at impossible angles. Again, Kaji released the tension in the wire at his foe, but this time Hayaku was ready; he sidestepped the launched kunai, and cut the wire cleanly with his kama. The kunai sailed right over Wasumaru, over a crouching Kandegawa, past his quivering guards...

...and was snatched out the air by Hanabi, who was not even looking at Kaji. "Watch where you're throwing!" she yelled, still focused on Tego, who was rising to his feet.

"It's not my fault!" Kaji yelled back, dropping the rest of the wire and taking out two shuriken. Hayaku was now rushing toward him with murder in his eyes. Taking a step back, Kaji threw his shuriken in an overhead arc headed for his opponent's head; Hayaku blocked both of them easily with his kama without breaking his stride.

Kaji had his hand on another kunai and was about to pull it out, when it was knocked from his hands by the small weight of the kusarigama; his opponent had launched the metal sphere at him right after he blocked the shuriken. "Oh no you don't," he sneered as he slashed at Kaji repeatedly. Unarmed, Kaji had to weave in and out of his attacks.

"Damn it," Kaji cursed as he was nearly caught by the scythe, resulting in a tear on his shoulder.

Hanabi was having problems of her own; Tego was now relentless in his strikes, missing Hanabi by only inches every time. _"I can't take a direct hit,"_ she thought as she twisted under a punch before back-flipping out of range of an uppercut. If a graze managed to force her to land on a tree twenty feet away, she would not like to think about what would happen if she took a blow to the chest.

As her opponent rushed towards her, Hanabi could not consider using the kunai in her hand; there was no way a kunai could penetrate the thick iron armor she was facing. She ducked under a right hook and rolled out of the way from a left jab, trying desperately to find an opening of some kind. Try as she may however, the frequency of her opponent's attacks prevented her from mounting an offense, and she was being pushed back towards Kandegawa and his two guards.

"Slow down so I can break you!" yelled a frustrated Tego.

Hanabi bent under a straight punch, and then twirled around a left hook, but a very near miss from a right uppercut made her stumble to the ground. Gritting her teeth, she raised her arms in vain to protect herself from her opponent, now right on top of her.

Tego attempted to deliver the finishing blow, but before he could strike, his vision suddenly turned upside-down. "Huh?" he grunted as he swung wildly at the air on unsteady legs, wondering how the ground had suddenly become the ceiling.

Hanabi saw Wasumaru behind her; no longer sitting down, he was staring at her opponent. "Thanks Wasumaru!" said Hanabi over her shoulder. As she prepared to capitalize, she could see Wasumaru give her the slightest of nods.

While Tego was still disoriented, Hanabi ducked under his flailing arms and pinned his sandal to the ground with her kunai. "Hyah!" she yelled as she struck his abdomen with as much chakra as she could muster.

This time, the results were palpable; a large crack had appeared in the armor and Tego howled in pain, clutching his stomach as he backed away from Hanabi, ripping out the kunai in the process.

Meanwhile, Kaji was still dodging Hayaku's fierce attacks. "This is getting old!" yelled Kaji as he pulled his arm out of the way, nearly losing it to the blade.

"Is that so?" Hayaku taunted "Well try this!" And he pulled out a small black sphere the size of a fist, and threw it at the ground in front of Kaji's feet.

The ball exploded, and Kaji was blinded by a bright flash of light and smoke. "What the hell?" wondered Kaji as he tried to blink the sparkling stars from his vision.

Suddenly, a long chain wrapped itself tightly around Kaji's waist. Before he could react, Hayaku was behind him, his kama high in the air. "Time to die," he taunted as he plunged the blade into Kaji's heart.

As Kaji sank to his knees, Hayaku said "Sorry about that kid; you were just never meant to make it past this point."

When Hayaku looked down at Kaji however, he saw that his blade was now plunged into a log. "A Substitution jutsu?" he yelped.

"I'll keep that in mind!" yelled Kaji from behind. Hayaku turned around once again, arms protecting his face. Unfortunately for Hayaku, Kaji was aiming low, sinking his arm into his chest. A jumping kick sent Hayaku airborne.

Hayaku sailed a great distance before he landed on the ground several feet away from where he stood. He could barely get to his feet again as he asked "Who are you?"

Grinning, Kaji replied "I'm Kaji Sogeki of the Leaf Village, and you are my punching bag. Care for more?"

At the same time, Hanabi yelled "Third enemy heading in our direction. Sensei's in pursuit!"

As Tego heard these words, he laughed "Ha! You're in for it now; the boss is coming, and he won't be happy!"

Hayaku was back in a fighting stance, but now he was looking towards his brother. Kaji was also distracted by the new development, although that did not stop him from yelling "So we have another guy we have to beat up. Big deal!"

From the trees, a masked ninja with a medium build landed next to Tego. Hanabi noticed that even though he was a head shorter than Tego, Tego still seemed to revere him. "Alright boss, now we'll beat them up together?"

The man shook his head, then pointed two fingers down the path.

Hayaku nodded. "We retreat for now, brother."

"What?" asked Tego, anger on his face. "But, I'm not finished yet!"

"Boss' orders!" Hayaku interjected patiently. "We retreat."

As they disappeared into the woods, Kaji yelled after them "Yeah, you better run!"

Hanabi finally deactivated her Byakugan as she sank to her knees, breathing hard. Soon after, Shintaro finally appeared from the woods; not a single blow had landed on him from what Hanabi could see. "Is anyone hurt?" asked Shintaro as he checked the perimeter.

"No," said Hanabi, consciously turning away so Shintaro wouldn't notice the welt on her face. "I'm just tired; that last attack took a lot of chakra."

"I just wish they hadn't run away," said Kaji, arms behind his head. "A few more seconds, and I would've had 'im," he said, despite having to sit down in fatigue after he walked to the others.

"Of course," said Shintaro before Hanabi could open her mouth.

Finally standing up, Lord Kandegawa brushed himself off and said "Thank goodness for you! If you hadn't been by my side, I shudder to think what would have become of me!"

"All in a day's work," said Shintaro. "Now, there is the pressing matter of what to do next."

"What do you mean sensei?" asked Hanabi.

Shintaro sheathed his sword and then turned to Hanabi, who was now starting to get up. "At any point in that battle, did they attack Lord Kandegawa or his guards?"

Hanabi replayed the battle in her mind; there was a lot of thrown kunai and punches and blades, but Kandegawa was never really threatened by any of them. "Now that you mention it, not really," she said.

"But they were clearly trying to kill me! There's no other possible explanation for this attack!" said Kandegawa.

But Shintaro turned now to Kandegawa. "Then why did they attack me first? I was clearly the target of those shuriken. If you were their target, why didn't they throw their shuriken at you in the first place, before they revealed their position?"

Trying to be helpful, Kaji offered "Well, maybe that's because they were stupid, or they may not have known who he was."

"It's possible they may be bandits," said Hanabi.

Shintaro shook his head. "They retreated in the direction of the Land of Petals. I'm not going to rule out the possibility that this was a deliberate attack. Unfortunately, they weren't wearing headbands so we would know at the very least which village they're affiliated with, if any."

"What if those ninja were really after Lord Kandegawa?" asked Kaji.

"Whether they're involved with our mission or not, we cannot deviate from it now," said Shintaro. "If they're not involved, then we continue as planned. If they were involved, then we can hardly go back to the Leaf Village; it will take at least three days to get additional help to the Land of Petals, which is more than enough time for those men to recover and possibly infiltrate the castle."

A concerned look on his face now, Shintaro addressed his students. "I am deeply sorry, but despite the fact that this mission has been elevated beyond the requirements of a C-rank mission, we must make haste to the Land of Petals before it is too late."

Far from fearful, Kaji cracked his knuckles and said "Don't worry 'bout me; I'd like another shot at those guys. Maybe I'll even take 'em all by myself!"

Ignoring Kaji, Hanabi said "Then let's go. There's no time to waste."

Wasumaru put away his pen and pad once again and stood up.

Giving a nod to his team, Shintaro said "Alright Team Three, let's move out!"

* * *

The three masked ninjas gathered in a forest. Looking around to make sure they had not been followed, the leader said "Report."

"My armor's broken," said Tego, removing his chest plate and examining the crack that had formed in the middle.

"At least you didn't get poked in the eye by some brat," muttered Hayaku.

"This is serious!" moaned Tego. "I may have to replace it!"

"Save it Tego!" snapped the leader. "Hayaku, report."

Hayaku cleared his throat and said "Four man team; three genin and one jonin. They were very formidable." Tego snorted at the remark.

The leader however, nodded. "As to be expected of Shintaro Misumi."

"You know him?" asked Tego in surprise.

"We've had our differences," he said, smirking. "Anything else to report?"

"Actually, yes," said Hayaku. "One of the genin appears to be a member of the legendary Hyuga clan."

"A Hyuga?" said the leader, now very interested. "Are you sure?"

"Positive; she fought using the Gentle Fist stance, and there's no mistaking those eyes."

"A Hyuga, huh?" said the leader, rubbing his chin in thought. "Boys; this may be our big break."

* * *

Dusk had nearly fallen as Team Three, Lord Kandegawa, and his two guards finally came upon the small village in the Land of Petals.

"Woah," said Kaji, impressed. "Check out the castle!"

"Houseki castle," said Kandegawa proudly.

The castle was hard to miss; five stories tall and made from white wood with royal green ceramic roofing and a stone base, the structure towered over every other building in the village. Despite being amidst the numerous shops and dwellings, it was easily seen by Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru, who had vigorously begun to draw the castle in vivid detail.

The castle's magnificence however, Hanabi noticed, could only be matched by the shoddy state of the village that it overlooked. Several buildings had chipped paint or else looked as if they would collapse altogether, shops had very little merchandise, and no one had a single smile on their face. Everyone was working to gather whatever food was available or to prop up damaged roofs. Even the children were contributing, doing the laundry against washboards when their parents were too occupied to do it themselves.

Seeing the accusing look on Hanabi's face, Lord Kandegawa said "I know what you're thinking, but Houseki castle has been here since the start of this village, and a prosperous village it used to be too. Ever since the drought last year, we've had very little goods to export, and as you can imagine, the village has been like this ever since. We've just never been able to catch up. Add the fact that Lord Hajishime died of illness a year ago, and the morale is very low."

Looking back toward the village entrance consisting of a feeble wooden arch that matched the rest of the village, Kandegawa said "Ah, Ijimeki, captain of the guard."

A fairly large man in clean padded armor holding a spear strode towards them, flanked by two more guards similar to the ones Lord Kandegawa had at his side, and just as shabby. Ijimeki stopped short of Kandegawa, and bowed. "How was your journey, my lord?"

"A little rough, unfortunately," said Kandegawa, glancing at Shintaro and the rest of Team Three. "We were attacked by ninja, three of them to be exact."

"You are not hurt?" asked Ijimeki.

"No, no, not at all, thanks to the ninjas I hired," he replied, indicating Team Three.

"Mostly 'cause of me though," grinned Kaji jokingly. Hanabi resisted the urge to kick him.

"Allow me to escort you to the castle my lord; you must be tired," said Ijimeki.

"Unfortunately, I can't retire just yet," said Kandegawa. "I have a meeting I must attend to at the castle. A private meeting," he added, now looking at Shintaro.

"You don't need our protection?" asked Shintaro, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm terribly sorry, but it concerns the financial plan," replied Kandegawa. "Feel free to roam the village as you like, but be warned; I don't think the villagers take too kindly to ninjas. It may make them think that they're involved in a war."

"You're not worried that the castle may have fallen under attack?" asked Hanabi.

"My people aren't crafty when it comes to attacks," said Kandegawa grimly. "The castle would be set ablaze if it had been attacked. Anyway, I entrusted its safety to Ijimeki; the people are too intimidated by him to do as much as spit at the base."

"Speaking of which," said Kandegawa, turning back to Ijimeki, "I really must be going. Let's move quickly to the castle Ijimeki; I daresay the villagers have gotten used to my absence..."

Turing to Shintaro, he said "Feel free to come up to the castle to sleep, as I doubt you will find lodging elsewhere. In fact, I expect you'll have to have dinner at the castle as well..."

And with that, he left with Ijimeki, escorted by the four guards, leaving Team Three at the gate. "Well now what?" said Kaji, stretching his arms. "It's only been a few hours since that ambush, and already I'm bored."

"I suppose we'll try to forge diplomatic relations with the townspeople," Shintaro replied.

"Easier said than done," said Hanabi as a woman dropped her basket full of goods at the sight of four ninja at the gates and ran into her house.

* * *

As Hanabi and the others walked through the village, she noticed that as they walked, the people grew more and more apprehensive. Whenever they passed a villager, he or she would stop whatever they were doing and retreat back into their homes as soon as they spotted them.

"Cheery people," Hanabi muttered.

"Yeah, I know," said Kaji, annoyed as they passed another frightened villager. "You'd think we've got paper bombs strapped to our backs or something."

"Now now; it could be just because we're new faces..." said Shintaro.

Thinking this was overly optimistic, Hanabi said "Yeah; a village that specializes in trading can't come across too many new faces."

As they passed by a food stand selling pot stickers, Kaji sniffed the air, tantalized by the sweet aroma of the meat. "Aww man, I could go for some of that right now. I'm starving," said Kaji as he lingered at the stand.

"Alright then, we'll stop here," said Shintaro, as Hanabi and Wasumaru also stopped.

"Sweet!" yelled Kaji as he took out his wallet. "I'll take three curry chicken pot stickers, extra spicy, and an order of fried tofu please!"

"Gee, you think that'll be enough?" grinned Hanabi as she took out some bills.

However, the old man at the food stand said "We have nothing for sale for ninjas, you hear? Leave now!" And without another word, he slammed the wooden doors shut, closing the food stand inches away from Kaji's face.

Shocked, Kaji yelled "What's with this service? I'm hungry now, damnit! C'mon, open up!" And he started to yank on the doors to no avail, the smell of the meat still hovering around the stand.

Sighing, Shintaro grabbed a struggling Kaji by the scruff of his neck and said "Forget it Kaji-san; we're just not welcome here."

As Hanabi put her money away, she muttered "We might as well head up to the castle now; we'll save us travel and harassment."

Wasumaru was standing patiently, too hungry to draw or paint.

* * *

Kaji was still complaining as they wandered around the village, trying to find a single shop that would be willing to sell them food. As it turned out however, the only thing the villagers wanted to see was the backs of them as each shop closed its doors immediately as they drew close.

"It's no wonder they're doing so poorly if they can turn away paying customers!" yelled Kaji, outraged at the response of the villagers.

Following behind him, Shintaro said "It can't be helped Kaji-san; these people are already going through troubled times. They wouldn't like to be seen helping ninja, even if it's feeding them."

"I don't care!" said Kaji, frustrated. "All I want is some food, and I'll be damned if I don't get it because of- OW!"

A small rock had hit him on the back of the head, almost knocking him out. Turning towards the source, he yelled "Who threw that!"

As the rest of them turned, Kaji caught a glimpse of a young girl with dark red hair, a slingshot in her hand and a loathing look on her face, before she ran out of sight through the village.

"You'll pay for that!" yelled Kaji as he tried to pursue her. Shintaro caught Kaji around the midsection as he passed.

"You don't want to start a confrontation here," said Shintaro calmly. "Let it go."

"Easy for you to say!" said Kaji, struggling to chase after the girl. "Now I have an empty stomach and a headache!"

However, Kaji had to admit to himself that there was no chance of finding the girl now with such a head start, especially when neither Hanabi nor Shintaro were willing to help and Wasumaru was too busy sketching something on his pad. "She probably overheard you. You did sound really angry," said Hanabi.

"It doesn't make it hurt any less," muttered Kaji, rubbing the spot where the rock had hit him.

In the end however, the four decided it was best to make their way to the castle, as it was getting very dark. As Kaji was still fuming, Shintaro said "Not to worry Kaji; I'm sure Lord Kandegawa will be more than happy to provide dinner for us."

At this, Kaji perked up a little bit. "Yeah, the food'll probably be better than anything out here anyway."

* * *

When the team reached the foot of Houseki castle, they truly appreciated its towering stature; Kaji almost strained his neck trying to see through the top window. The castle was surrounded by a wall of tall trees that separated itself from the rest of the village, though none of these trees were nearly as tall as the gigantic castle that loomed before them.

"Whoa," marveled Kaji, "it's even bigger up close!"

Shintaro smiled at his students and motioned towards the front gate. "Shall we?"

There were two guards at the gate, each armed with spears and short swords. When they spotted the four ninja walking towards them however, one of them said "Lord Kandegawa is expecting you on the second floor," and they both stepped to the side.

Before they walked inside, Hanabi pulled Kaji aside. "Eh? What's up Hanabi-chan?" asked a confused Kaji.

"I'm still worried about those ninja we fought today," replied Hanabi

"Really? Those guys?" wondered Kaji. "Don't worry; if it comes down to it, I'll protect you," grinned Kaji as he gave her a thumbs up.

"As if I need it," scowled Hanabi. "Listen; something doesn't feel right about all of this. Those ninja could be in the castle right now, and I've got a feeling that Kandegawa's not telling us everything."

"Alright, alright, take it easy," said Kaji, no longer grinning. "If anything does happen, Shintaro-sensei's powerful enough to take 'em out. Besides, if ninja were in the castle, they'd lock down the castle by now; Kandegawa's been alone in there for a few hours already."

"Well, maybe I'm just over-thinking this, but all the same, be on your guard," said Hanabi.

"Hey, this is me you're talking about here," said Kaji.

"Exactly," muttered Hanabi.

From the large doorframe, Shintaro called out "Hanabi-san, Kaji-san, we wouldn't want to keep Lord Kandegawa waiting now, would we?"

The two joined Shintaro and Wasumaru, although Hanabi seemed a little hesitant as she set foot inside the castle.

* * *

If the castle had looked impressive from the outside, it was nothing compared to the inside. The first room they entered was a large foyer with hard wood floors and walls, complete with a rock garden with a miniature fountain in the center, a grand shrine to their right dedicated to an old man whom Hanabi could only assume was Lord Hajishime, and enough lamps to completely illuminate the entire area. At the back of the room was a grand wooden staircase leading to a wrap-around balcony, and at the top of the staircase was a large set of shōji doors.

Kaji gave an approving whistle and said "This place is huge! I bet you could get lost in here."

As the four neared the staircase, the doors slid open to reveal a smiling Lord Kandegawa. "Welcome to Houseki castle! I hope everything is to your liking."

"Very!" said Kaji with a smile that matched Kandegawa's.

Shintaro also smiled as he said "We hoped to have dinner here actually; the other shops conveniently closed as soon as we came near them."

With an understanding nod, Kandegawa said "I expected as much. Come on in," he said as he motioned inside. "I'll have my chefs whip something up right away."

"You're too kind," said Shintaro as the four entered the room, which turned out to be a dining room. The center of the large room was mostly occupied by a grand low table surrounded by cushions resting on Tatami flooring. Sweet scented candles were spaced every few feet on the table.

"Wow," said Kaji, "I'm never gonna forget this meal..."

Forgetting all about her suspicions, Hanabi commented "And we haven't even been served anything yet..."

The four sat at the table to wait for Lord Kandegawa. When he returned, he had a maid in tow carrying a teapot and four elegant cups. "I hope you like green tea," said Kandegawa as the maid served them and promptly left.

"How was the meeting?" asked Shintaro as he sipped from his cup.

As Kandegawa took his place at the other end of the table, he replied "It went very well. I'll need a few days, but the financial state of our village is secure."

"That's great," said Kaji, trying to quench his rumbling belly by gulping his tea.

"Excellent news," said Shintaro. "Now that the village is safe, can you tell us what this financial plan of yours was?"

"Well actually," said Kandegawa, his smile widening, "it involves you."

Before they could contemplate what that meant, two shuriken ripped through the paper of the shōji and traveled toward Shintaro. Bringing his arm up to guard, he winced in pain as one of the shuriken dug into his arm.

Kaji and Hanabi had dived out of the way. "Sensei!" yelled Hanabi, for Shintaro had collapsed onto the table, his breathing now heavy.

"Poison..." he gasped, looking at the wound on his arm.

As Kaji and Hanabi stood up, the doors slid open, revealing the Kensugi brothers and their leader that had attacked earlier, no longer wearing a mask; he had short gray hair and a hard face that was covered in many scars from past missions. "I'm sorry to interrupt your tea party, but I'm here on strict business," said their leader, a sneering look on his face.

"Iwao... Matsuki..." breathed Shintaro, hate in his voice.

* * *

Hanabi: I knew it! Kandegawa is up to no good; he laid a trap for us!

Kaji: And with our sensei down, I don't know if we'll be able to get out!

Hanabi: We have to try. We don't have another choice.

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Treachery: Kandegawa's Plan!

Kaji: You losers can't keep us in here! I'll show you!

* * *

Ninja Academy Training

(Kaji is standing in a clearing with a kunai attached to ninja wire. Hanabi is next to him. Wasumaru is sitting nearby, drawing.)

Kaji: Alright fellow ninjas, listen up! I know what you're all thinking; what was that fighting style you used with that kunai in the last fight?

Hanabi: You can read minds now?

Kaji: *turns to Hanabi* It's another skill of mine.

Hanabi: *rolls eyes*

Kaji: This is a makeshift jouhyou, or rope dart, one of the most difficult weapons to master. But I've done it.

Hanabi: *raises an eyebrow* How?

Kaji: Well, it takes years of training, including training with similar weapons like the chain whip. And I've made plenty of mistakes too; I've got the scars to prove it.

Hanabi: I didn't know you've had that much training in weapons.

Kaji: Hanabi-chan, there are many things you don't know about me. Anyway, the jouhyou is a very effective weapon because the opponent cannot read your strikes, just how I like it. *starts twirling the wire*

Hanabi: I've just noticed; you carry a lot of ninja wire. Where did you get it?

Kaji: Oh...at your local ninja store...

(meanwhile, at a house in Konoha...)

Man: Honey? The TV won't turn on! Neither will the lights! Nothing works! Honey?

(the electrical pole outside of his house is missing wires)

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Shintaro Misumi

Gender: Male

Birthdate: April 9

Age: 28

Height: 185cm

Weight: 68.9kg

Blood Type: B

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Soft-roasted Eel

Dislikes: Shellfish


	6. Treachery: Kandegawa’s Plan!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 6: Treachery: Kandegawa's Plan!

Hanabi and Kaji had just dived out of the way of an attack on Shintaro by the three ninja that had attacked them that afternoon. After being struck by a poisoned shuriken, Shintaro was barely conscious, but he could still recognize his attacker. "Iwao...Matsuki..." he breathed with loathing.

Ah, Shintaro," said Iwao with a condescending smile. "I'd say 'it's been a long time', but we've already met about five hours ago. I assume you haven't told your students about me?"

"Who are you!" yelled Kaji, now on his feet, two kunai knives in his hands.

"Apparently not," said Iwao, still smiling. "Pity you don't have the strength to tell them now. I suppose that's what nemuri will do to you; suppress your chakra."

Hatred in her eyes, Hanabi turned to Kandegawa. "What's the meaning of this?" she demanded, taking out a kunai.

"It's all part of the plan," Kandegawa replied, his smile as wide as ever. "You see, ninjas can be worth a lot of money, when they're turned in for a bounty."

"You," Kaji spat as he moved to jump over the table at Kandegawa.

"I'd advise against that, if I were you," said Iwao; he had moved at the same time. Sword drawn, he held it to the back of Shintaro's neck. "I also don't see the need for you to carry weapons. Drop them."

Hanabi and Kaji seemed reluctant to obey, but when Iwao barked "Now!" and pressed his blade against Shintaro's skin, they dropped their kunai knives, letting them clatter on the floor. "We trusted you! You hired us!" said Hanabi to Kandegawa with deepest dislike.

But Kandegawa just kept smiling as he said "I should thank you Leaf Village ninja. So trusting, so loyal, protecting me from Iwao-san and his men..."

"Bastard!" growled Kaji, frustrated that he could not make a move.

Kandegawa turned to Iwao and asked "What's the value for these four?"

At this, Iwao grinned and replied "Shintaro Misumi is in the bingo book. He's listed for 30 million Ryō. However..." and he said in Shintaro's ear, "I think I know a few nations who would pay more if I delivered you alive. I'd expect that price to double if I put you up for auction."

Iwao then turned to look at Hanabi. "The Hyuga is a very valuable bounty indeed; last I heard, there were two genin of the Hyuga clan who don't have that unsightly curse mark on their forehead, and I believe we have one of them. I bet we could sell her to Kumogakure for 60 million, more if we bargain for it."

"Excellent," said Kandegawa greedily. "You and your men will get half, as agreed. And the other two?" and he nodded toward Kaji and Wasumaru, who was still sitting, observing the proceedings.

"Well, we could hold them for ransom for the Leaf Village," said Iwao, "but I think it's in our best interests if we do not get involved with them; we wouldn't want to let the Leaf Village know of any dealings here. They would simply send reinforcements."

"Yes, I thought as much. I guess that means that they're expendable," said Kandegawa, feigning disappointment as he turned to Kaji and Wasumaru. "Sorry boys, but you two were just killed by bandits, along with your friend and teacher, right after you left this village. Of course, the Hyuga girl may live for a while and your teacher will have as long as the negotiations take, but for you two, the mission ends here."

"Nothing personal," said Iwao as he motioned to Hayaku. "Do it quickly," he said.

"My pleasure," replied Hayaku with a sneer as he took out his kusarigama and moved towards Wasumaru. Gripping the kama portion in his raised hand, he aimed for Wasumaru's neck with the sharp scythe.

"Wasumaru!" cried Hanabi.

The blade sliced through Wasumaru's neck, a blank expression on his face. Instead of blood however, a stream of smoke poured from the wound. "What's this?" wondered Hayaku as the rest of them stared at where Wasumaru once sat.

The smoke started to gather around Wasumaru, who was slowly evaporating into the air. Finally, the smoke dispersed, and there was no trace of Wasumaru left in the room.

"A genjutsu," sighed Hanabi, relief in her voice.

"Great job Wasumaru," said Kaji, also relieved that Wasumaru had escaped.

Now angry, Hayaku yelled "Which is more than I can say for you, brat!"

He wheeled around and buried his kama into Kaji's chest, only to find from a puff of smoke that he had struck a clone. Kaji had also disappeared from the room. "Damn those kids!" yelled Hayaku, half a mind to strike Hanabi just to prove she was real.

"Calm down Hayaku," said Iwao. "A minor setback... Hayaku, search the village for those kids. They can't have gotten far; the feisty one must've used up most of his chakra by now. Tego, escort the Hyuga to the dungeon; she'll be able to say her goodbyes to her sensei before being sent to the Cloud Village."

"Yes sir," replied both brothers as Hayaku leapt off of the terrace overlooking the castle grounds. Meanwhile, Tego walked up behind Hanabi, and said "Nighty-night," before promptly knocking her out with a single blow to the head; her limp body was sent through the shoji door and came to rest just before the grand staircase.

"Curse you...Iwao..." gasped Shintaro, "I... shouldn't have... spared you..."

"Well, life's full of missing opportunities, isn't it Shintaro-san?" Iwao sneered before knocking him out with the pommel of his sword.

* * *

Having just escaped from Houseki castle, Kaji and Wasumaru had taken refuge behind some bushes surrounding the grounds. Kaji was too tired to move and Wasumaru would not move as he stared with wide eyes at the castle.

"Damn it!" cursed Kaji silently, punching the ground. "Okay, Hanabi-chan and Shintaro-sensei have been captured, I'm out of chakra and I'm still hungry, and we're all alone in a village where everyone wants us dead. What are we gonna do, Wasumaru?"

Wasumaru turned to Kaji with his wide stare, but then his gaze shifted ever so slightly to a spot behind Kaji and he tilted his head in wonder. He then took out his pad and flipped to a page he had sketched on earlier.

"Huh?" wondered Kaji. Taking out a kunai, he turned around; he could swear he saw movement behind the bush that was about five feet away. Using his free arm to prop himself, he crawl-ran over to the bush, prepared to attack.

"You!" Kaji gasped.

It was the red-haired girl in rags that had hit him with the rock earlier. Fear on her face, she still had her slingshot and, by reflex, had taken aim at Kaji.

Kaji barely managed to deflect the rock from his face, but the girl was already running away from them, a glimpse of her ponytail disappearing into the foilage. "Wait," said Kaji before fatigue finally took its toll, causing him to black out under the night sky.

* * *

"I still can't believe you brought these ninja to our home."

"Mom, I think they're on our side. At the very least, they're not on Kandegawa's."

"How can you be sure?"

"I saw four of them go into the castle, but only two came back out, and he looks like he'd been attacked."

"You've been out spying on Houseki castle again, haven't you?"

Kaji awoke to the sweet smell of cooking vegetables and the sound of an argument. As he pushed away the blurriness from his vision, he suddenly sat up. "Where am I?" wondered Kaji.

"Look mom, he's awake!" said a girl's voice.

"I can see that dear," said her mother with a hint of apprehension.

As Kaji looked around, he saw that he was in a small room, which he then realized was a living room. Old and tattered, there was a stove with a boiling pot in one corner of the room, a small square wooden table where Wasumaru sat, and a doorway which Kaji could only assume that it led to the bedrooms. The girl with the slingshot was a few feet away, and her young mother was behind her. "Hi, my name's Minori," said the girl, her slingshot at her side.

"And I'm her mother, Akane," said the woman behind her, slightly nervous.

"I'm, Kaji," said Kaji tentatively. "You...you brought us here?" asked Kaji.

"Well," Minori said as she pulled up a chair. "Your friend walked here on his own, he was just fine. At least I think he is... is he always like that?" she asked, glancing at Wasumaru, who was once again drawing on his pad. After looking up and seeing that Minori was gazing at him, he showed her the drawing he had flipped to earlier; it was her portrait in black ink. Her eyebrows raised, she turned back to Kaji.

"Yeah, Wasumaru always does that," replied Kaji. "So, you carried me here?"

With a scoff, Minori said "Well, it wasn't like I could get you here any other way."

Still feeling a lump on the back of his head, Kaji asked "Why did you do it? A few hours ago, you hit me with a rock, and you almost did it again too."

Thinking for a moment, Minori replied "I dunno, I guess I figured you needed help. After you fell, I spotted one of Kandegawa's ninjas with this scythe. I think he was looking for you."

"That was Hayaku," Kaji said, gritting his teeth. "He was gonna kill both of us."

Minori said "After I picked you up, he started to come towards us and your friend looked at him, and then, Hayaku you said? Well, he ran off in a completely different direction, like he heard something over there."

"Another genjutsu," said Kaji, nodding to himself. Suddenly, he remembered. "Ahh! Hanabi-chan, Shintaro-sensei! They're still at the castle!"

He tried to leap off of the sofa, but he crashed to the floor when his legs would not move, still tired from the entire day. Minori rushed over to help him up. "I know your friends are still back there, but you can't do anything right now. Kandegawa's guards have locked down the castle by now, and there's still those ninjas under his pay. Anyway," she said as she helped Kaji lie back on the couch, "you're in no shape to do anything now."

"What're you talking about? I feel fine!" said Kaji in protest, just before a loud rumbling echoed from the pit of his stomach.

"Uh huh, right, from the looks of it, you haven't eaten anything in a while," said Minori. "Luckily for you, I convinced my mom to make some vegetable stew for your friend and there's still plenty left over for you."

"I'm still not sure about inviting ninja into our home," said Minori's mother, "but I'm completely against turning away a growing boy when he's hungry."

Although Kaji did not like the idea of sitting and eating while two of his team members were being held captive, he sighed and said "Fine, but as soon as I'm able, I'm gonna go back in there and give Kandegawa a piece of my mind, right Wasumaru?"

Wasumaru looked up at Kaji, gave a brief nod, and then silently returned to his drawing.

* * *

When Hanabi came to, she took in her new surroundings despite being groggy. She saw that she was in a stone cell beneath the castle, and she was shackled by her arms in iron chains so that her feet were far from the ground. Across from her, she could barely make out Shintaro in the opposite cell through the dim light cast by mounted torches; he was in the same situation, his feet hanging a mere inch or two from the damp floor. Both of their cells were sealed with iron bars.

"I see you've woken up," he said, head pointed at the floor.

"I can't believe it. Kandegawa betrayed us," said Hanabi bitterly.

"Well, since he had planned this from the beginning, I can't say it was a true betrayal, although I think we can agree it was a betrayal of our trust," said Shintaro. With a small sigh, he said "Well, I've been in tighter situations before..."

Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "You've had worse than being chained by your arms to a wall waiting to be torn apart by your old enemies?"

"You forget," said Shintaro, "that this village is, or was, devoid of ninja, so these chains are not designed to hold ninja. Thankfully enough, Iwao forgets that nemuri wears off in a few hours. He has left Tego in charge of keeping us alive while he sets off to meet his contacts. Needless to say, I plan to escape with you before he returns."

"What about Kaji and Wasumaru?" asked Hanabi.

Without looking up, Shintaro replied "Well, I'm sure Kaji can take care of himself. After all, Kaji had that substitution jutsu prepared before he entered the castle; I believe your warning got through to him.

"Wasumaru on the other hand," Shintaro continued, "I believe he may have suspected something from the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if he never really entered the castle. In any case, he isn't one to be taken lightly."

As Hanabi silently agreed, she asked "Shintaro-sensei, did you suspect something too?"

"Well, to say that I knew that Lord Kandegawa was behind it all would be gravely inaccurate," said Shintaro. "However, I knew those ninja would be back, and I had also contemplated the idea that you were their target."

"Why me though?" wondered Hanabi. "What good is one ninja who has the Byakugan to another village if I won't cooperate with them?"

"Well, you wouldn't need to," Shintaro replied. "The corpse of a ninja still holds many secrets that other ninjas can unlock. Even if they uncover a ninja with a kekkei genkai, a technique only passed down by blood, they can still study every aspect of how the body uses the ability. In time, weaknesses can be uncovered, or worse; they can duplicate the trait. I'd have thought you'd know this from when your sister was almost taken by the Cloud Village."

This was the first time in a long while since anyone had mentioned Hinata to Hanabi; Hanabi had done her best to forget about her sister, and concentrate on her own abilities. Now that she realized she was experiencing a similar fate to her sister's kidnapping, Hanabi was now trying to push away any feelings of empathy towards Hinata, and focus on how she was going to escape.

_"These chains weren't meant for a ninja, huh?" _thought Hanabi, _"I bet they also weren't meant for an eight-year-old girl..."_

Springing into action, she gripped the chains and pulled herself up so her head was now level with her wrists. She then wrapped her left arm around the chain so that her entire weight was now supported by her left arm. Her right arm now unburdened, she tried slipping her hand out of the cuff of the shackle.

"In a hurry, are we?" asked Shintaro.

"I'm just trying to get out of here before Kaji has to rescue us; I don't think I could live with his gloating otherwise," Hanabi replied. The cuffs proved too small to slip out of, so Hanabi focused on the chain. Picking a link with the most rust, she began to focus chakra into her right hand, and concentrate it into a point from her fingertips. Her chakra took the form of a miniscule needle, and she began to use her wrist to saw away at the link.

"My vision is a little faint at the moment, but are you trying to wear away the chains using your chakra?" asked Shintaro amusingly.

"Yeah," replied Hanabi, gritting her teeth from the pain in her left arm. "I've been experimenting on how best to use my Gentle Fist style by altering the shape of my chakra output. A thin output should theoretically be strong enough to sever a single vein in the chakra pathway system, although I haven't tested it in combat yet. Anyway, if it can work on the human body, I don't see why it can't work on objects. This might take me a while though," she said, watching as the link slowly wore away.

"Well, we have time," said Shintaro casually.

* * *

Whatever qualms Kaji had about resting were pushed away by the leek and onion soup prepared by Minori's mother, Akane. Despite the meager portions of vegetables the soup contained, to Kaji it was like a feast after going for so long without food.

"So, what happened?" asked Minori as Kaji finished his second helping.

"Well, Kandegawa hired us to protect him for a couple days," said Kaji as he put his bowl down, almost completely dry. "Actually, we were supposed to protect him from you guys..."

Seeing the offended look on Akane's face, he quickly added "But don't worry, I know better now. That jerk betrayed us as soon as we entered the castle! He captured Hanabi-chan, she's my teammate, and Shintaro-sensei. He's gonna sell them to other villages for money!"

"Money? What for?" asked Minori indignantly, "He already has all the money he wants!"

As Kaji helped himself to a third bowl, he replied "Well, he said he had a financial plan to help the village. Although he never told us we were the plan..."

But Minori said "Help the village? Help us? Ever since he became the Daimyo of our village, all he ever helped was himself!"

"What do you mean?" asked Kaji, having just set the bowl on the table.

It was Akane who answered "Kandegawa has been stealing from the village by taking some of the profits from all of the trading that comes through here. He raised taxes and keeps most of the good quality items for himself at the expense of us. We've been living worse and worse until some of us couldn't take anymore. That's why we've been rioting."

"Well that does it!" yelled Kaji, standing up. "Whatever sympathy I had for the guy in the back of my mind has just been thrown in the trash! I'm gonna go up to that castle and break my foot on Kandegawa's a-"

"You can't do that," Akane interrupted, "That castle is well guarded by nightfall, and you'll be up against his ninjas, who I'm sure will also be protecting Kandegawa."

But Minori said "I agree with Kaji; I wanna help his friends escape. From what it sounds like, tomorrow could be too late."

"Minori," said Akane exasperatedly, "I don't want you going up to the castle again, it's too dangerous,"

"I've been up to the castle about a hundred times; Kandegawa has his guards run only two shifts, the cheapskate," said Minori determinedly. "Besides, I actually know where the dungeon is, having been in there once..."

When Kaji looked at her in bewilderment, she told him "Got caught spying on the castle; spent the night there. Believe me, you're going to need all the help you can get."

"Well, alright," said Kaji reluctantly. "But you better not slow me down!"

With a smirk, she replied "Just try to keep up with me. I won't help you a second time if you get lost."

Checking his ninja pouch, he said "You're coming with us too, right Wasumaru?"

Wasumaru looked up from his drawing at Kaji. Wordlessly, he put away his pastel kit into his robes and got out of his chair.

Seeing that this was out of her hands, Akane sighed as she said "Just be careful, all of you; Kandegawa's crafty. If he has your friends, he might expect a rescue attempt."

"Hey," said Kaji, arms behind his head and grinning, "I'm a trained ninja. I'm always careful!"

"Then how'd you get tricked by Kandegawa?" asked Minori slyly.

"I escaped, didn't I?" replied Kaji. "I'll be sure to return the favor while I'm there!"

* * *

For the past thirty minutes, Hanabi had been slowly wearing away at a weak link in her shackle using her chakra. Her left arm now numb from supporting her own weight for so long, she almost screamed with anticipation as the link was now worn down to a thread. A sharp yank from her right arm broke the link as her left arm finally gave way, and she dangled from a single chain.

"Aaah," she grunted as she was now only supported by the shackle on her left wrist, the cuff digging into her flesh.

"Are you alright?" asked Shintaro, concerned.

"Yeah," Hanabi lied as she quickly pulled herself up using her right arm.

"You didn't have to do that; I could have easily broken out along with you once I have my strength back."

"Yeah, well, no going back now," said Hanabi as she wrapped the chain around her right arm and went to work on the chain with her left.

With a sigh, Shintaro said "I have a hard time wondering which of the two of you is more stubborn; you or Kaji..."

Ignoring her sensei, Hanabi kept focusing her chakra in her left hand, trying to work as fast as she could to get rid of the pain building in her right arm. Trying to keep her mind occupied enough to disregard the pain, she asked Shintaro "So, that ninja that poisoned you: you knew him?"

"Iwao?" said Shintaro, and his voice became quieter, as if he was looking into the distant past. "Yes, we were in the ANBU black ops together."

"You were in the ANBU?" asked Hanabi.

"I was," said Shintaro. "Obviously, I'm not anymore."

"What happened?" wondered Hanabi aloud.

"That is a story for another time," said Shintaro and Hanabi knew she would have to wait. "What you do need to know now is that Iwao is very skillful, being a former member of the ANBU black ops. He is also ruthless and unmerciful, so I want you to promise me that you and Kaji and Wasumaru are not to fight him, even if it's to help me. You saw how willing he was to kill mere genin if it would remotely benefit him, so believe me when I say that fighting him at your level will only garner a quick death at best."

"Sensei," said Hanabi, almost stopping her work to look at him.

For the first time, Shintaro lifted his head. Even though Hanabi knew he could not really see her, she saw that his expression was hard and serious as he said "Please understand that I'm not trying to scare you or insult you, but as your jonin teacher, my duty is to protect you, even at the cost of my own life. Now promise me, Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi barely noticed that she had actually stopped sawing the chain. A short silence passed before Hanabi muttered reluctantly "I promise, sensei..."

She had barely whispered it, but even as she went back to work, she knew that Shintaro had heard it all the same.

* * *

Minori was leading Kaji through the village, and Kaji was carrying Wasumaru on his back as they weaved in and around the closed shops and silent houses. Since Wasumaru could not be coaxed to run, Kaji had no choice but to keep hold of Wasumaru's legs to his sides. This was further complicated by the fact that Wasumaru was still drawing, his pad and pen in front of Kaji's face.

"Come on; we don't have time to waste!" said Minori as they stopped behind a building to let a patrolling guard pass by unknowing.

"I'm trying," said a frustrated Kaji quietly. Glancing over his shoulder, he hissed at Wasumaru "I don't mean to be rude Wasumaru, but the next time that pad gets in front of my eyes, I'm chucking it!"

With his wide eyes, Wasumaru looked at Kaji, and then put his pad and pen back into his robes.

Slightly satisfied, Kaji turned back to Minori. "I still don't see why we have to spend this much time running through half the village," he said, back hurting from hauling his teammate.

Scoffing, Minori said "I thought you ninja were supposed to be smart; how many guards do you think will have their eyes on the main road? We're trying to bust your friends out of the dungeon while attracting as little attention as possible, which means not strolling up to the castle in plain view."

Taken aback as this answer, Kaji stammered "Well, maybe that's what they're expecting! How do we know we aren't playing into their hands?"

Rolling her eyes, Minori grabbed hold of Kaji's arm and said "Let's go!"

"Wait," hissed Kaji. He pulled her back with the arm she had grabbed and covered her mouth before she could say anything just in time; Hayaku had leapt onto a rooftop just across the road.

A few tense moments passed as Hayaku looked around, and then leapt away into the darkness.

Kaji and Minori both sighed in relief, and Minori threw Kaji's hand off of her mouth. "That wasn't necessary," said Minori as she wiped her lips with her arm.

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't," muttered Kaji. "Why did I agree to have you come along?"

After avoiding a few more guards and running around a couple more buildings, the three finally ducked behind some bushes at the castle entrance. There, Minori and Kaji saw an unwelcome sight; three guards were standing at attention at the entrance, eyes peeled and spears in their hands.

"Hmm, I could probably take out one, maybe two by myself," said Kaji as he let Wasumaru down. "But that'd leave one to sound an alarm."

"I can take care of the last one," said Minori, slingshot at the ready.

"Are you sure?" asked Kaji skeptically. "You'd need a perfect shot, and those guards are awfully far away."

"You have any better ideas?" said Minori. "There's no other entrance to the castle, and all of the windows have guards. Anyway, the dungeon's behind the staircase on the ground level, so infiltrating it from the top just means a longer route."

Kaji looked at her and said "Look, I'm all up for bursting through the front gates, arms swinging, but I'm still not at a hundred percent. If we meet Tego in there, we'll have to run. What do you think, Wasumaru?"

Kaji and Minori turned to look at Wasumaru, but both of them sighed in exasperation when they saw that he was sitting down, drawing the guards and the castle with his pastel kit. From his concentration, it seemed he was not even aware that he was about to help them infiltrate the castle.

"Right," said Kaji, "he does that a lot too..."

* * *

Hanabi's right hand was burning in pain as she watched the link slowly whittle away to nothing.

"Almost...got it..." she grunted as she used the last of her strength to keep herself supported.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the last strand of metal was burned away, and Hanabi fell to the floor exausted.

"Well done," marveled Shintaro. "As to be expected from a member of the Hyuga clan."

"Yeah," Hanabi said, half laughing and half moaning as she massaged her arms. "I think I'll rest here for a moment, and then I'll do yours."

"I'm very flattered," said Shintaro. "However, I think I can take care of that myself by the time you get your strength back. It should be soon; I daresay Kaji must be planning some sort of rescue attempt by now..."

* * *

Outside of the castle, Kaji and Minori were still arguing about what to do next.

"I say we enter through the second floor; that dining hall has a large balcony!" said Kaji.

"That's too obvious! Guards'll be there for sure!" Minori hissed. "We're knocking these three out and going through the front gate."

"Fine then," said Kaji, taking out a kunai. "Let me just ask Wasumaru if he wants to help. Hey, Wasu-"

But when he looked over his shoulder, Wasumaru was no longer there. "Hey!" said Kaji, looking through the foliage behind where Wasumaru once sat. "He's gone! Did you see- what is it?"

Minori had tugged on his shirt, but when Kaji turned towards her, he saw that she was not looking at him. Instead, she was looking towards the entrance, horror on her face. When Kaji also looked at the entrance, his expression changed to match Minori's.

Wasumaru was strolling up to the front entrance, his finished drawing in hand. The guards quickly noticed the strange boy walking towards them, and raised their spears.

"Oh no," said Kaji, gritting his teeth as he tied a piece of ninja wire to his kunai.

The guards, however, lowered their spears at the sight of the strange, solitary boy. "What have we here, fellas?" asked the guard in the middle, almost laughing from the absurdity of the scene. As the three walked towards Wasumaru, their spears at their sides, they bent down to address him.

"Little boy, you know there's a curfew on the whole village," said the guard on the right.

"Did you draw that? That's pretty good," said the guard on the left.

Wasumaru tilted his head to one side, and then raised his drawing so the guards could have a better look.

"Hey, that _is_ pretty good, kid," said the guard in the middle. "Is that supposed to be us?"

As the three took a closer look, they could not help but be mesmerized by the incredible detail depicted in the drawing. Everything from the lights on the castle to the stones at the base, even the guards themselves looked real. "Wow," said one of them, taking in the drawing.

And then the most incredible thing happened; the guards in the drawing started to move. Their painted selves all took a deep yawn, and had sat down at the foot of the castle, their spears leaning against the rocky wall. Their eyes slowly closed as they enjoyed a nice rest under the starry sky.

"That's not a bad idea," yawned one of the guards, sitting down on the cool grass.

"Not bad at all," said another, laying his spear down as he also lay down to enjoy the night air.

"You said it," said the third guard, resting his head against his hands.

And soon enough, all three guards were snoring, leaving Wasumaru to put his drawing away.

Kaji and Minori had both witnessed this scene, mouths open. Finally, Kaji said "Well, it lacks some style, but it got the job done..."

Rushing out of the bushes, the two ran past the three sleeping guards. Kaji grabbed Wasumaru by the hand along the way, and the three of them burst through the large doors into the castle.

When they entered the foyer however, they were greeted by another setback; standing at the foot of the staircase was Tego, fully alert and fully clad in his iron armor. Letting out a laugh that echoed throughout the castle, he boomed "Iwao-sama was right! You two did try to rescue your friends! Now there's no escape!"

Left with no choice, Kaji yelled "We'll see about that!" and he and Minori dropped into ready positions, Kaji pulling out a kunai and Minori loading her slingshot.

* * *

Kaji: Damn! This is exactly what I didn't need. Fighting Tego while I'm not at my best wasn't in the plan.

Hanabi: You call this a rescue attempt? By the time you finish your fight with Tego, Iwao will be back.

Kaji: Hey, how 'bout some gratitude here? Just be thankful that I'm trying to get you out.

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Fight or Flight: Escape from Houseki Castle!

Kaji: We beat you before, and we'll do it again!

* * *

(Wasumaru is sitting alone in the training grounds, observing. Kaji walks up to him.)

Kaji: Hey Wasumaru, ya ready for the mission today?

Wasumaru: *looks at Kaji, nods*

Kaji: I know I am! I've got all my ninja tools.

Kaji: *lays all of his tools on a cloth in front of him*

Kaji: Five kunai, six shuriken with a side-holster, twenty meters of ninja wire, two smoke grenades, three paper bombs, one storing scroll, and twenty caltrops. Yep, I'm prepared and ready to kick butt! So Wasumaru, what ninja tools are you gonna bring?

Wasumaru: *pauses for a moment*

Wasumaru: *holds up his pen*

Kaji: *skeptical* A pen?

Wasumaru: *takes out a small wooden case*

Kaji: Your pastel kit?

Wasumaru: *takes out a large pad*

Kaji: Canvas? It seems like you're ready for an art trip! Those things can't possibly be useful, right?

Wasumaru: *quickly draws a picture, shows it to Kaji*

Kaji: Hey, that's me...hey...I'm walking towards a tea shop...Hanabi-chan's there...kick Hanabi-chan? That sure sounds funny...sure, I'll do it...

(Kaji walks off, a glazed look on his face. Wasumaru starts drawing on a second sheet of canvas.)

To be continued...

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Madoka Hayashi

Gender: Female

Birthdate: April 2

Age: 11

Height: 140.8cm

Weight: 29.1kg

Blood Type: A

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Summer Peaches

Dislikes: Bitter Foods

* * *

A/N: The next chapter may take a little longer to get out due to personal events, but don't worry; I'll try to get the next one out as soon as possible. In the meantime, please review and spread the word about this fic if you like it!


	7. Escape from Houseki Castle!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 7: Fight or Flight: Escape from Houseki Castle!

Kaji, Minori, and Wasumaru had burst through the doors to Houseki castle in an attempt to save Hanabi and Shintaro. Unfortunately, waiting just before the main steps was Tego Kensugi, ready for battle in his black iron armor. "I'll grind your bones into powder," Tego grinned maliciously.

"We're not afraid of you!" shouted Kaji bravely as he held a kunai in front of him. Minori had already taken her slingshot out and loaded a rock, aiming for Tego.

"You should be, you little brat!" said Tego, stretching his neck. "We went easy on you before. We were only supposed to observe your abilities back in that forest. Just try not to make your death too messy; this castle's pretty expensive you know!"

Kaji glanced over his shoulder. When he saw Wasumaru sitting at the doors and Minori ready to fight, a determined look on her face, he whispered urgently to her "Run, I can handle this."

"No you can't," replied Minori, trying not to show any fear. "You just said a few moments ago that if we ran into this guy, we'd both have to run. If you're fighting, so am I!"

"Look, that's very gutsy of you, but that slingshot's gonna do squat against that armor!" said Kaji. "I'm a ninja; I can take him. You'll just get in the way," said Kaji, a trace of concern in his voice.

Tego took a step forward and said "What are you two talking about over there? I'm not here to wait, I'm here to fight!"

"I'm not leaving," said Minori, and Kaji knew he could not force her to. With a small sigh, he whispered "Wait until he comes towards us, then we'll flank him."

As Minori nodded, slingshot still aimed for Tego, Kaji turned to face their opponent. "Bring it on, fatso! I'll make sure you never forget me!"

With a wide grin on his ugly face, Tego roared "I'm gonna enjoy this!" as he charged straight for Kaji and Minori, demolishing the stone fountain that decorated the center of the foyer.

"Move!" yelled Kaji. He rolled to the right as Minori sidestepped to the left, firing her slingshot at Tego.

At first, Tego was confused as to whom to go after, but he made his decision when the rock struck him on the side of the head. Although he showed no signs of damage, he turned to face Minori, yelling "I'll teach you to throw rocks at me!" Running towards her, Minori barely dived out of the way as Tego sank an arm into the wood wall where her head was moments before, sending splinters everywhere.

Pulling his arm out of the wall with ease, he turned around to see Kaji in the air, falling towards him with a kunai in his hand. Kaji brought the knife down with full force, but Tego stopped the blade effortlessly with his iron palm and held Kaji's neck with his other arm. "Little kids shouldn't play with toys like these," taunted Tego, taking the kunai away and crushing it in his grip.

"Damnit!" gasped Kaji, trying to wrestle himself out of Tego's grasp to no avail.

"Heh heh," Tego laughed. He tossed the useless knife away and prepared to deliver a devastating blow to Kaji, but another rock had bounced off the side of his head. An amused smile on his face, Tego turned towards Minori, her slingshot having fired again with little results.

"Let him go!" yelled Minori, loading another rock.

"As you wish," said Tego, and he released his hold as he punched Kaji in the side with all the strength he could muster. Letting out a small scream of pain, Kaji was launched toward the grand staircase and broke the side railing as his back crashed through it. He hit the stairs hard, sliding down to rest on the floor.

Tego began laughing loudly at the sight of Kaji's spectacular collision, but stopped when a third rock bounced off the back of his helmet. Slowly facing Minori again, he smiled menacingly at her. "All right; now it's your turn..." he said as he walked slowly towards her.

* * *

The noise from the battle upstairs carried into the dungeon where Hanabi and Shintaro were locked up. Hanabi had just broken free of her chains and was now resting on the floor, waiting for her chakra to be replenished when she heard something crash. "What was that?" she wondered.

"That could be our rescue team," said Shintaro worriedly. "Someone just got hurt badly. I just hope I'm wrong about who," he said, lifting his head again.

"Byakugan!" said Hanabi, staring at the ceiling. Looking through the dank stone, she saw a peculiar scene; Wasumaru was sitting at the entrance to the castle, looking out into the grounds. A few meters away from him, Tego was stalking a familiar red-haired girl who was nervously holding a slingshot.

"Hey, it's that girl that threw the rock at Kaji!" she said, trying to make sense out of what she was seeing. "Tego's moving towards her. Wasumaru's just sitting there,"

Moving her gaze from the entrance of the castle to the steps, she gasped. "That's Kaji; he's not moving."

"That's what I was afraid of," said Shintaro. "I think it's time for us to leave."

Hanabi sat up and looked at her sensei. "You have your strength back now?"

"Not all of it," admitted Shintaro. "However, given the present circumstances, I don't believe it matters now. Anyway, I have something I've been saving for a time like this,"

Since both Hanabi and Shintaro were stripped of their equipment, Hanabi wondered what he was talking about. She was about to ask him when Shintaro cried "First gate; open!"

His muscles bulging slightly, Shintaro tugged hard on the chains, ripping them away from the wall. Not stopping there, he ran to one of the bars in his cell and pulled so hard that the metal stretched and creaked, creating an opening wide enough for Shintaro to step through. He looked at an astonished Hanabi and asked "Do you need help with yours?"

Shaking her head, Hanabi said "No, I don't think that'll be a problem," as she easily squeezed through the bars due to her diminutive size. Both of them now outside of their cells, Hanabi asked Shintaro "You can open the gates?"

"Just the first one," said Shintaro, kneeling to rest. "It took a few years to learn how to do that, and I never dared to learn to open any of the other ones. Very dangerous when opened for an extended amount of time, those gates. Besides, I've learned more reliable ways to protect myself."

Turning his attention upwards, Shintaro said "I think we shouldn't linger here any longer. Let's move."

* * *

Minori was slowly backing up until her back nearly touched the wall next to Wasumaru. Desperately trying to damage Tego somehow, she was firing off rock after rock. Rather than hurting him however, Tego was amused as he caught every stone that came his way, and crushed each one to dust with his bare hand.

"This is a fun game!" laughed Tego, grinding another rock into powder between his fingers.

Now frantic, Minori reached into her pouch to launch another stone, but found that her stock was now empty. With no other options left, she shrank against the wall as Tego came within inches of her.

"Game's over," said Tego as he raised both arms over his head, intending to smash Minori in one blow.

Suddenly, Kaji came out of nowhere, chakra flowing around him, and landed a flying kick to the side of Tego's head, sending him barreling through the wall into the next room, disappearing out of sight.

Clutching his side, Kaji yelled after him "I've taken harder shots from my dad!"

Kneeling by Minori's side, Kaji asked her "You alright?"

"Y-yeah," said Minori, trying to push away her shakiness. "How'd you get up so fast? I thought you were done for!"

"Soldier pill," said Kaji, looking back toward the gaping hole left from Tego's massive frame. "I had to save up my allowance for a month to get me one of those. 'Should last for a couple of minutes; I'm just mad that I had to use it here. Come on, let's get movin' before he wakes up."

As Kaji helped Minori to her feet, Minori said "Wait, I think I hear someone outside."

They both turned to listen at the entrance where Wasumaru was still sitting, drawing with his pen and pad. Their eyes lit up when they heard the voice of Ijimeki yell "Why are you three sleeping? What's going on?"

"Great," said Kaji as he took out two shuriken and stepped in front of Minori. "Wasumaru," Kaji called out, "get out of there!"

Kaji was going to move Wasumaru himself when he heard Ijimeki say "And where's the castle!?"

Thinking this was a very strange question to ask, it took Kaji a few seconds to realize why Ijimeki could not see the castle. "Nice genjutsu Wasumaru!" said Kaji, impressed. Wasumaru looked at Kaji, gave one of his slight nods, and went back to drawing.

Grinning at Minori, Kaji said "Well, this is turning out to be easier than I thought it'd be. Now we can bust Hanabi-chan and Shintaro-sensei out and be on our wa-"

Before Kaji could finish, the wall behind them exploded in a shower of splinters, causing Minori to scream in shock. As Kaji and Minori wheeled around, they saw Tego emerging from the room he was kicked into, carrying a large wooden beam he had ripped from the structure.

"Now I'm mad!" yelled Tego as he swung the beam in a wide arc towards Kaji and Minori. Kaji barely had time to push Minori and himself underneath the beam as Tego held the makeshift club over his head, almost scratching the ceiling.

"You little runts, I'll smash you for sure!" Tego roared as he brought the column down with all of his force.

Gritting his teeth, Kaji turned and grabbed Minori around the midsection, and pressed off as the end of the beam only just missed the two of them. With a mighty crack, the beam snapped in half, and there was now a large mark on the dark wood floor where the beam had hit.

"Bastard won't stay down," said Kaji, getting back to his feet.

"Y-y-yeah," said Minori, not believing she was still alive.

* * *

Hanabi and Shintaro were now at the top of the steps of the dungeon, staring at an old wooden door. The only reason why they had not immediately burst through it was because of a single paper seal on the front of the door.

"That doesn't look like a paper bomb," said Hanabi, turning to her sensei. "What is it?"

"Probably a door seal," said Shintaro. "I can sense a strong chakra signature on it. This seal was meant to keep us in here by making the door impossible to open. Iwao's work I suspect, since all ANBU are required to know all of the basic seals."

"So we're stuck here?" asked Hanabi, frustrated at the prospect of a barrier stopping them from leaving.

"Well, if enough force is applied to the door, the seal will be moot," replied Shintaro with a wry smile. "However, there is another seal on the other side of the door; an alarm seal."

Hanabi understood immediately. "If we break through this door, Iwao will know we escaped."

"Exactly," said Shintaro, rolling up his sleeves. "Now, I could perform a counter-sealing jutsu that would disable both of them in an hour, but since we're pressed for time..."

* * *

With a mighty yell, Tego hurled what was left of the splintered beam at Kaji and Minori. While Minori ducked under the throw, Kaji flipped over it, and landed a dropkick to Tego's chest. Kaji fell awkwardly from the impact while Tego barely flinched.

"You brats are getting me mad!" growled Tego, aiming a punch straight down towards Kaji, who rolled backwards just in time to avoid it. Tego's fist drove straight through the wood where Kaji was, causing the surrounding boards to crack.

"Damn, I'm not gonna be able to keep this up," said Kaji, breathing heavily. "If only Hanabi-chan was here, she could get through that armor..."

As Kaji said it, a large explosion suddenly emanated from behind the grand staircase, causing dust and small bits of wood to fly out on either side, and knocking Minori down from the shock. Emerging from the rubble was Shintaro, followed closely by Hanabi.

"Sensei! Hanabi-chan!" said a surprised but elated Kaji.

"What's this?!" yelled Tego, getting his arms in front of him just in time to block a flying kick from Shintaro. The power of the kick still made Tego stumble backward, and Shintaro tried to capitalize by sweeping his armored legs. Thrown off-balance by this attack, Tego toppled to the floor with a large crash, damaging the polished floor even further.

"Kaji, what are you doing here?" asked Hanabi, running up to him.

"Saving you!" said Kaji indignantly.

"As if I needed saving," muttered Hanabi irritably.

Suddenly, the fierce voice of Hayaku leaked into the castle from outside. "The castle should be right here! It's a genjutsu! Kai!"

Wasumaru exhaled as he stepped up from his drawing; a large clearing surrounded by tall trees. His genjutsu broken, he backed away slowly from the angry guards outside, their spears aimed at him.

Right as the guards crossed the entryway however, Hanabi placed herself between their spears and Wasumaru. Her Byakugan active, she wrapped her arm around the spear of the lead guard and struck him with a jumping kick to the side of the head, knocking him out.

Twisting the spear out of his failing grip, she used it to deflect a second spear thrust aimed for her out of the way and twirled towards her attacker. Her twirl ended in a spinning back fist that sent the second guard hurtling towards the wall, landing with a crash as he slid to the floor.

The third guard tried to take advantage of the distraction by lunging with his spear at Hanabi's midsection, but she arched backwards, gripped the spear with her legs, and hurled it out of his hands as she pushed off of her landing to deliver a straight punch to his face, sending him sliding across the floor and colliding with the opposite wall.

The second guard almost came to, but the spear etched itself into the wall inches from his head, and he fainted.

Hanabi recovered to see a flash of silver, and gasped; Hayaku tried to cut her down using his kama, but Shintaro was already there to block the strike. "I don't think so," said Shintaro, his voice nearly expressing his anger.

Growling with frustration, Hayaku swung the attached weight with his other arm, but Shintaro and Hanabi stepped back easily to avoid it. "You got lucky that time," sneered Hayaku, stepping into the room as he held his kusarigama at the ready, "but this time I'm gonna cut off your legs so you can't escape."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shintaro saw Tego starting to recover. "Kaji; take your friend and Wasumaru and find our gear; we'll meet up with you later."

"We're running?" asked Kaji, disappointed. "I wanna fight too!"

"This is a direct order!" said Shintaro, raising his voice. "In a few minutes, this place will be crawling with guards, and Iwao knows we escaped. Hanabi will help me hold these two at bay."

Hanabi said "Kaji; second floor, third door on the left, near the back corner."

Biting his lip, Kaji reluctantly grabbed Wasumaru by the midsection and hoisted him up onto his shoulder, grabbed Minori by the hand, and said "Come on."

As he watched them run up the stairs, Hayaku said "Brave decision, but you must know that they will not get far, and you and the girl have no chance against us, at least, not in your condition anyway."

"I'm not concerned," said Shintaro. "I have the upmost faith in my students."

"How very touching," said Hayaku, mockingly. "Your faith will not be rewarded; the Kensugi brothers will put you right back in that dungeon, and this time we'll make sure you won't be able to escape."

"That's right!" said Tego who was finally on his feet, drawing the attention of Hanabi, who was closest to him. "The Kensugi brothers will smash you!" And he threw a punch that Hanabi narrowly avoided by rolling to the side.

At the same time, Hayaku rushed towards Shintaro, his kama whistling through the air.

* * *

As Kaji reached the second floor, Minori in tow and Wasumaru still on his shoulder, he suddenly winced as a sharp pain hit his side where Tego had punched him. Noticing this, Minori asked him "What's wrong?"

Holding his side, Kaji replied "Soldier pill's wearing off; I think I've got about fifteen minutes left. Damn second-rate knockoffs... c'mon, we gotta move."

Trying to ignore the pain, Kaji lead Minori across the wrap-around balcony towards a hallway leading to the rest of the castle. When they saw the doorway at the far end of the hall that Hanabi mentioned, two guards with spears stepped out from the other end. "Freeze!" they cried, holding up their spears.

Gritting his teeth, Kaji was about to let Wasumaru down when Minori stepped in front of him and fired her slingshot at one of the guards. The stone bounced off of his forehead with a hollow thud, and he dropped to the ground. Not missing a beat, Minori quickly reloaded and fired off a second shot that knocked out the second guard who was surprised by the first shot.

"Where'd you get those rocks?" asked Kaji.

"The rock fountain, or what was left of it," said Minori, calmer now that she was away from Tego and Hayaku.

Impressed, Kaji sped past her down the hall, and turned towards the storage room with Minori not far behind. A locked hardwood door met them, notably more secure than any other door in the hallway. "Someone doesn't want us in there," said Kaji, setting Wasumaru down off to the side. Backing all the way to the opposite room, he gave a mighty yell as he delivered a flying kick that burst the door nearly off of its frame.

Inside were several large wooden crates, each of them unlabeled. Searching near the back wall, Kaji said "Hmm, Hanabi-chan didn't tell me which corner their gear was in...oh well," and he took out a kunai. Wedging it just underneath the lid of the closest crate, it took Kaji only a minute to pry off the top, exposing the contents of the box.

What they found inside confused both of them. "Uhh...I don't remember Shintaro-sensei or Hanabi-chan having this much gear..." said Kaji, as both he and Minori stared in awe.

Before them lay kunai knives, shuriken, smoke pellets, flash bombs, hundreds upon hundreds of different ninja tools where there shouldn't have been. "What the hell?" wondered Kaji, both his and Minori's eyes wide in shock. "Quick, open the others!"

After a few minutes of prying, Kaji and Minori found two other boxes that contained more ninja tools; ninja wire, sealing scrolls, needles, and ninjatos. One box even contained some blank headbands.

The last box against a corner contained two pouches, one black and one brown, both filled with ninja tools, a katana, two shuriken holsters, two Leaf Village headbands, and a shoebox at the bottom. Kaji was puzzled as he said "Huh? Here's Hanabi-chan's and Shintaro-sensei's gear, but I haven't seen that box before..."

Kaji picked up the small gray box, and lifted the lid heart pounding. He gasped when he rifled through the sheets of paper that were neatly filed in the box.

"Paper bombs!" he exclaimed. "There must be at least a hundred of them in here! What's Kandegawa doing with these?!"

Still shaking her head in disbelief, Minori said "I knew it...I knew it!"

Kaji turned to Minori, whose brown eyes began to tear up, and asked "What do ya mean?"

But she shook her head, wiping her eyes with an arm. "Nevermind; just get your stuff so we can get out of here."

"Alright then," said Kaji, taking some time to not only grab Hanabi's and Shintaro's gear, but also snagging some of the tools that lay around the room. Catching Minori's angry gaze, he said defensively "Hey, I gotta replace some of my gear. Besides, think of it this way; anything left here'll be used by those two freaks below us. You like the sound of that?"

Scoffing, Minori stormed out of the room while Kaji shrugged and stuffed the tools in his own bag. Strapping the katana around his back and carrying both pouches under one arm, he ran out of the room, stopping to let Wasumaru know that he did not have to wait at the door anymore.

* * *

Sidestepping a swing of the deadly scythe, Shintaro said to Hayaku "With attacks this slow, I don't think I'll have any problems holding you off."

As Shintaro backed away from a strike from the weight of the kusarigama, Hayaku said "Really? Is that what you think? Well, then allow me to change the game a bit." Pulling the weight and chain back and wrapping it around his arm, Hayaku performed a series of hand seals and said "Shadow Replica jutsu!"

As he said those words, his own shadow seemed to melt away from him, splitting off into three pieces. Those pieces rose and gained Hayaku's shape and form until Shintaro was standing in front of four Hayaku's. "Clones?" wondered Shintaro, as the real Hayaku was indistinguishable from the others.

With a short laugh, Hayaku said "Not exactly; while clones disappear upon being hit or struck, these replicas will remain until I wish for them to disappear. And because they're made from my chakra, you won't be able to tell the real me from the others. Now then, see if you can hold me off now!"

The four Hayaku's scattered off in different directions around Shintaro. Not knowing where the first attack was going to come from, Shintaro waited patiently in the ready position.

The first attack came from his left; scythe coming down for an overhead strike, Shintaro stepped into the attack to let the shaft come down harmlessly on his shoulder while he countered with a straight punch, but his fist went right through the first replica as it disappeared back into the ground.

The second and third Hayaku's came from behind; Shintaro barely had time to turn around and raise his arms to block the incoming strikes. However, the strikes never came; instead, a heavy blow from the weight of the kusarigama struck him square in the back, knocking Shintaro to the ground.

"Sensei!" yelled Hanabi, turning towards him for only a moment.

"Gotcha!" said Tego gleefully, bringing both of his massive hands down on Hanabi, who barely jumped backwards in time to avoid it.

As his replicas reformed around him, Hayaku laughed as he said "After all that Iwao told me about you, I must say I'm disappointed."

Shintaro picked himself up, trying to shrug off the pain in his back. "I'm sorry you feel that way," said Shintaro, resuming his fighting stance. "But to be fair, I doubt you'd be fighting as well as you are if you spent the last few hours hanging from your arms."

"I'm not trained to accept excuses," said Hayaku coldly.

"Not making an excuse; just pointing out a simple fact," said Shintaro, his lips almost forming a smile.

As the two prepared to exchange blows again, Hanabi was doing her best to avoid all of Tego's strikes, bending and twisting out of the way of each one. After ducking and rolling away from a combination, Tego yelled "You can't dodge me forever!"

"That's what you think!" she yelled back. Jumping to the side to avoid a left hook, she ran on the wall and pushed off to land a kick that struck Tego in the face, staggering him.

Not stopping there, Hanabi struck his exposed back. Unfortunately, the strikes did not have as much of an effect than she would have liked; she just did not have enough chakra left to get past the heavy armor of Tego. Eyes narrowed in frustration, she was forced to back away as Tego spun around to hit her.

"I've had enough of this!" growled Tego. Gathering chakra into his right fist until it seemed to burn the air around it, he yelled "Hammer of Judgment!" Arm glowing blue with chakra, he threw a mighty punch towards Hanabi, who had to jump back to avoid it.

Even though Hanabi was about a foot away from the blow, the sheer force against her chest made it feel like she was hit anyway. She was lifted off of her feet and hit the floor hard, sliding across the polished wood until she came to rest at the foot of the stairs, all of the air knocked out of her.

"Hanabi!" yelled Shintaro, punching through a replica of Hayaku that shrank back into the floor.

"Pay attention!" said Hayaku as he delivered a flying kick from behind, sending Shintaro flying towards the stairs and landing next to his student.

As Hanabi and Shintaro slowly got to their feet, Tego and Hayaku approached them with malice on their face. "You're getting back in that dungeon where you belong," said Hayaku, spinning the weight in the air.

"Yeah, or we'll smash you up, and then put you back in the dungeon!" said Tego, smashing his fists together.

Both Hanabi and Shintaro were breathing heavily, having expended nearly all of their chakra to escape from their cells and fight the Kensugi brothers. Despite this, Shintaro replied confidently "I prefer the third option where we escape from the castle..."

Several smoke bombs dropped from the balcony; at least ten of them smashed against the stairs, releasing a giant cloud of black murk that nearly filled the entire foyer. While Hayaku and Tego were coughing amidst the dark haze, Hanabi used her Byakugan to see the stairs clearly as if the smoke were air. Shintaro soon followed her using her chakra signal.

When they reached the balcony, which was barely high enough to carry them out of the smoke, Hanabi spotted Kaji immediately alongside Minori and Wasumaru. Grinning from ear to ear, Kaji tossed a single smoke bomb into the air and let it fall to the floor below. "So, what kept ya?" he asked.

Returning the smile, Hanabi replied "I could say the same thing." As soon as Hanabi and Shintaro were close enough, Kaji said "Here, catch!" and pitched their gear to them. Hanabi grabbed her black pouch which also contained her headband and shuriken holster, and Shintaro grabbed his brown pouch along with his katana, securing it to his side.

"Guards! Guards! Stop them!" yelled a voice from the top balcony; from the fourth floor, Kandegawa was leaning down at the scene in a lime-green nightgown. He had to immediately pull his head back as a shuriken zipped in front of his face and lodged itself in the roof.

"Put a sock in it!" growled Kaji, having just thrown the shuriken. With Wasumaru on his back, Shintaro said "Let's move!"

"Ya don't halfta tell us twice!" said Kaji as he motioned for Minori to hop on his back.

The five went down the hallway of the second floor, Hanabi leading the way. When they heard footsteps running down the stairs at the opposite end of the hall, Hanabi said "Through here," stopping at the second door on the right. Smashing down the shoji door easily, they ran through an empty room that they guessed used to be space for servant's quarters, and leapt through the open window into the cold night air.

Once they landed, they did not break their stride as the five headed deep into the forest surrounding the castle, just as Hanabi spotted the guards stopping at the window, confused that their quarry had vanished.

When they were well out of sight, Kaji let Minori down while Shintaro said "Now then, where do we hide out for the rest of the night?"

It was Minori who answered shakily "My house is in the middle of the village. My mom and I can hide you there."

"Hmm, we shouldn't encounter any more guards on the way; I suspect they'll all be running towards the castle by now. Lead on," said Shintaro, and Minori lead them around the outside of village to make sure that nothing would stop them until they got to her house.

* * *

The smoke had just begun to clear as Tego and Hayaku got back to their feet, trying to clear their lungs. "They got away!" coughed Tego.

"I know that!" snapped Hayaku, finally catching his breath.

"What do we do now, brother?" asked Tego, fear in his booming voice. "What do you think the boss'll do to us when he finds out they escaped?"

"Oh, I suppose he'd be very disappointed in you two, wouldn't he?"

The brothers turned to look at the castle entrance; Iwao Metsuki was standing in the doorway, clearly angry. "Boss," said Tego, shrinking back as Iwao approached them, "we're really sorry,"

"Save it," snarled Iwao. "So, Shintaro and the Hyuga escaped from the dungeon. I'll admit that I shouldn't have underestimated them; it seems that Shintaro has learned a few tricks since his time in the ANBU. However, you both should have been able to stop them."

His large face sweating, Tego stammered "B-but boss, they had help,"

"From two genin!" shouted Iwao. "Your job was to hold them until I got there in case of an escape attempt. No matter now; either we find them within three days, or we cover our tracks and get out of here. I'd rather lose a bounty than face half of the Leaf Village ninja."

Looking around at the destruction of the foyer, Iwao said "There's a chance that they're still in the village; I imagine they're tired by now. Tego, Hayaku; search the forests, every square inch. I'll comb through the village myself."

"That won't be necessary," said Kandegawa from the top of the stairs.

Turning to look at him, Iwao asked "What do you mean?"

Taking his attention off of Iwao, Kandegawa looked around the room and said "My my, it'll take weeks to clean all of this up." To Iwao and the Kensugi brothers, he said "If they are still in the village, then they will need shelter. And I happen to know that no house in this village would be willing to house ninjas, except for one."

"I'm listening," said Iwao, a smile creeping on his face.

"The ninjas were helped by one of the villagers; a young girl," he continued, his grin wide. "And it just so happens that I'm familiar with her, having been attacked by her on numerous occasions. Your boys can search the forest while I give you the location."

* * *

Kaji: Yeah! We escaped from Houseki castle! Take that, Kandegawa!

Hanabi: But it's not over yet; Iwao and the Kensugi brothers are still after us, and they'll go to any lengths to catch us.

Kaji: We could tell you what they're planning to do, but that'll spoil the suspense! Let's just say that I can't wait to get my revenge on Kandegawa for making all of us go through this.

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

The Village Fights Back: Assault on Houseki Castle!

Kaji: No more runnin'! Time to finish this!

* * *

(Hanabi is standing at a tea stand somewhere in the Leaf Village)

Hanabi: Green tea, please. *hands over some coins*

Clerk: Sure thing. *pours a cup of tea, hands it over*

Hanabi: *takes the cup* Thank you.

Hanabi: *sniffs the tea* Mmm, nothing like a fresh cup of tea right after a mission.

Kaji: *walks behind Hanabi, a glazed look on his face, kicks Hanabi hard in the leg*

Hanabi: Ah! *drops the cup, spilling the tea on the dirt, turns around*

Kaji: *shakes head* Wow, where am I? How did I ge- huh? Hanabi-chan? Why're you looking at me like that?

Hanabi: Grrrr! *punches Kaji hard, sending him flying into a dumpster across the street*

Kaji: Ohhh....that hurt....

Hanabi: What did you expect!? What in the world made you do that?!?

(Cut to Wasumaru, still sitting at the training grounds)

Wasumaru: *looks around, takes out the drawing of Kaji kicking Hanabi, crumples it up, drops it in the waste bin next to him*

* * *

Note from the Author: Origin of Kaji

When I decided to have the fic be about Hanabi, I also had to make up the other members of her three-man team. I already had Wasumaru in mind for one of the slots (that's a story for another author note), so I had to make a character that had a good contrast to the other two. Since Wasumaru had the stoic role (ahem, silent role), he also had to be a character that could spice up the dialogue between the serious Hanabi.

And thus Kaji was born. Based on a minor character from my role-playing days (I'm such a geek, I know), Kaji was the cool-looking clown to compliment Hanabi. To make him different from Naruto and Kiba (both of whom I feel have similar characteristics), I made Kaji rely on his weapons and wits in combat right from the get-go. He also has a very different background from the other two that will be brought up in future chapters. I hope he continues to entertain you with his tough-guy attitude and his never-ending bag of tricks.

* * *

A/N: I sincerely apologize for getting out this chapter this late, but things just kept getting in the way; me trying to get a job, finding a place to live in Virginia for my possible move, a vacation to Myrtle Beach, The Beatles Rock Band, etc. Now that most of it has gone by however, I should be able to focus on this now.

Please review after you read; how am I supposed to know how I am doing if I don't get any feedback? On that subject, thanks to Top for being the only one to review every one of my chapters as of 10/6/09 (and being the only one to review for the past two chapters for that matter). In return, I'll make sure I get the next chapter out as fast as possible!


	8. Assault on Houseki Castle!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 8: The Village Fights Back: Assault on Houseki Castle!

Akane could not get to sleep. She didn't even try, knowing her daughter was out there helping the Leaf Village ninja escape from Houseki castle. As she made herself a third cup of tea, she sat at her table with a solitary candle, waiting and praying that Minori would return safely.

Finally, there was a knock on the door. Akane nearly jumped from her seat to answer it, and felt an overwhelming wave of relief when she saw Minori standing before her. "Oh, thank goodness," she cried as the two embraced each other.

"Mom, we did it, we saved them!" smiled Minori.

"I wasn't worried about them," said Akane, tears of joy running down her cheeks. "Leaf Village ninjas can look after themselves. I was worried about you. Oh, I thought it was the last time I'd ever see you."

"Sorry to interrupt," said Shintaro, knocking on the door frame, "but we need to talk about our next move."

"What do you mean?" asked Kaji, still carrying Wasumaru as the four ninja entered the house.

"Iwao won't give up that easily," said Shintaro. "If I know him, he'll stop at nothing to try to recapture Hanabi-chan and myself."

"We could send for help; if Iwao is wanted by our village, Lady Tsunade would have no problem sending reinforcements," said Hanabi.

"The thought had occurred to me," said Shintaro. "Unfortunately, that will be simply out of the question."

"Why's that?" wondered Kaji.

"Iwao will know of that possibility," said Shintaro. "If we hurried, it would be about a two day run to the village and back. If we leave, we'll be putting this village at risk for at least four days. With no one to protect them, Iwao may just attack the villagers out of spite. Kandegawa will have plenty of time to escape as well."

"We could split the team into two two-man squads, and have one team stay here while the other team goes for help," offered Hanabi.

"No, it's too dangerous," said Shintaro. "Iwao is too strong. Only I have a realistic chance at beating him, and if he gets into battle with a two-man team without me in it, well, let's say I wouldn't like their chances."

Turning to face his team, Shintaro said "Our only option is to try and resolve this situation on our own."

"No problem," said Kaji, putting Wasumaru down. "So I get another chance to beat those guys. I can't wait," he said as he tried to stand bravely, before falling facedown to the floor.

"Kaji!" cried Minori and Hanabi as the two rushed over to help him up. "What happened?" asked Minori.

"Soldier pill finally wore out," gasped Kaji, clutching his ribs. "Uhn, I'll be fine. Give me a couple hours and I'll be on my feet."

Hanabi sighed and lifted Kaji's shirt, exposing a very large bruise where Tego had struck him. "Yeah, about that, a couple of days is more like it," she said, eyes narrowed.

"There's no need to act right away," said Shintaro. "Iwao and his team will be searching the perimeter to make sure we haven't escaped already. Besides, we'll need to be at full strength to fight them."

"By the way, I'm Shintaro Misumi," he said, bowing to Akane.

"Hanabi Hyuga," said Hanabi, also bowing.

"Akane Hatoyama," she said, returning the bow. "I'm really grateful to you for looking out for my daughter, Minori."

"Oh, Hanabi-chan and I were too occupied for that. We really should be thanking your daughter for helping us to escape," said Shintaro.

"Well, I didn't really do all that much," said Minori sheepishly. "Rocks don't have too much of an effect on armor. Besides, it seems Tego's head's harder than stone anyway."

Everyone shared a brief laugh before Minori turned to her mother and said "Mom, Kaji-san and I found something while we were trying to escape. I, I think it explains why da-"

Shintaro moved swiftly, pinching out the candle and whispering "Everyone, quiet! Someone's coming this way."

With the moon providing what little light there was in the room, Hanabi activated her Byakugan and whispered "It's Ijimeki with two guards, 40 meters away!"

"We need to hide," said Shintaro.

"In here," said Akane as she lifted the tatami mat near the wall, revealing a trapdoor. When Akane opened the trapdoor, Hanabi could see a steep staircase leading into a small storage room.

"Come on Kaji," said Hanabi as she helped him down the staircase. Although she could tell he would rather fight, she was thankful that he didn't argue.

"You too, Minori-chan," said Shintaro. "Kandegawa saw you tonight."

Minori nodded as she finished closing the shades. Along the way, she grabbed Wasumaru by the hand and they both made their way down the stairs, followed closely by Shintaro.

It was surprisingly spacious, and from what Hanabi could see before Akane closed the trapdoor and everything went dark, the small room was dusty and had few provisions. Keeping her Byakugan active, she waited behind Shintaro near the door in case something went wrong.

There was a rough knock on the door, and everyone held their breath.

Akane let the pounding continue for a few seconds before answering. Seeing Ijimeki with his two men behind him, all three of them with spears and carrying small torches, Akane said "What do you want? Do you realize how late this is?"

"I would actually like a word with your daughter, Akane-san," said Ijimeki.

"Well, she's not here," Akane replied coolly.

"May I?" said Ijimeki before entering the house, not waiting for an answer. He moved around the table into the bedrooms before quickly returning to the living room.

"Satisfied?" scoffed Akane.

"Watch your tongue, Akane-san," said Ijimeki, looking around the room. "There's a curfew out tonight. Why isn't your daughter in bed?"

"She left a few hours ago, just after dinner. Said she had things to do. She still hasn't come back."

"I see," said Ijimeki, barely listening. Moving to the table, he touched the wax on the candle next to the wick. "This candle was just put out."

"Yes, I was waiting for Minori-chan to come back," said Akane. "It was getting late, so I figured she would return while I was sleeping."

"So you care enough for your daughter to wait for her, but not enough to go out and ask your neighbors for help when she didn't return?" Ijimeki asked skeptically.

"Wouldn't help much, would it? I can't put a toe out my own front door without getting arrested for breaking curfew, can I?"

"I'm sure my men would be completely understanding in helping you find your daughter, had you simply asked, Akane-san."

Akane scoffed. There was an awkward silence before Ijimeki said "I don't know where your daughter is right now, Akane-san, but I do know where she was. Your daughter was spotted aiding fugitives to infiltrate the castle, with the specific intent of releasing prisoners. That would also make her a fugitive."

Ijimeki then took a step so that he was offensively close to Akane, who did not waver. "And if you are hiding her, or helping her, or keeping any information from us about her, then that would mean you are guilty of associating with a fugitive, meaning you would share the sentence with the fugitive. Your daughter's been in the dungeon before, but only on a minor infraction. This time, she helped known criminals into the castle, attacked my men, and broke two heavily secured prisoners out. That's a sentence heavy enough to put her in the dungeon until we carry her out to the grave. And you could have the cell next to her."

Resisting the urge to slap him, Akane said, teeth clenched, "Get, out, of, my, house."

There was another awkward silence. Ijimeki and Akane stared hard at each other, neither of their expressions changing.

"Hmph," snorted Ijimeki, and he turned to leave. "I'm leaving two of my men to stand guard here at all times; they will provide your food. Consider yourself under house arrest. Sorry to disturb you. Have a good night…while you can." And he shut the door behind him.

After about a minute, Akane made sure the guards outside had their backs turned before opening the trap door. "Don't come up here," she whispered.

"We know, we heard the whole thing," said Shintaro. "You were very admirable."

"I'm sorry mom," said Minori.

"Don't you be," said Akane. "I'm sick of not doing anything against Kandegawa and his goons. Your father had the right idea, opposing him from the beginning…"

"Mom, that's what I was trying to say; we found ninja supplies in the castle, enough to trade to small armies!" said Minori.

"Oh my…" said Akane, covering her mouth in shock.

"What's this about?" asked Shintaro.

Akane slowly shook her head. "A few years ago, my husband, Minoru, was the junior treasurer. He used to work in the castle. Kandegawa was his boss, second only to Lord Hajishime. About a year ago, my husband would come home always saying that something wasn't right, that the numbers just didn't add up. Kandegawa told him not to worry about it, that it was just a small error, and that mistakes always happen."

"And then Lord Hajishime died. Illness was the official report, but Minoru didn't think so. He thought that Kandegawa had a hand in it."

"After seeing his true colors, I'm not going to argue that," said Hanabi, clenching her fists in anger.

"Same here," said Kaji, scowling.

Akane nodded before continuing. "Well, after that, Minoru started to do everything he could to undermine Kandegawa's regime. This storage space used to be just for us when food was plentiful. After Kandegawa took over and started starving us, Minoru started smuggling what he could so we could share with everyone in the village. Many others had the same idea."

Tears in her eyes, Akane said "All of that changed when Minoru decided that he had enough. Instead of trying to solve our problems, he decided he would try to stop the source. He wanted to find some evidence of corruption against Kandegawa so he could expose him for the tyrant he is. I suppose he thought that, had he found anything, he would go to the Leaf Village for help."

"But Kandegawa got to him first," said Hanabi bitterly.

"Man, this guy's starting to get more and more on my nerves by the minute!" said Kaji, frustrated.

Also tearing up, Minori said "I think, dad came upon the same supplies we saw, and he got caught."

"That was about six months ago," said Akane wiping her eyes. "They told the village that Minoru was trafficking illegal goods in and out of the village, that he'd been doing it for years, and that he was executed for it. No one believed it of course, but then again, no one could say anything against it either. Eventually, Kandegawa ordered constant border patrols 'for our protection', but it was obvious that he just didn't want anyone to call for help."

"And now, barely anyone stands up to Kandegawa," said Akane. "People are just too afraid that they'll put their families in danger. Minori does the most out of anyone these days."

"Oh, don't worry. We'll be doing something about him, I can promise you that!" said Kaji, clenching his fists.

"But not until we've had our rest," said Shintaro.

"It looks like there's barely enough room for all of us to sleep down here tonight," said Hanabi.

"I'll get some blankets," said Akane as she closed the trapdoor. A moment later, she returned with a large blanket, a smaller blanket, and three pillows. "That's all from the beds."

"What about you, mom?" asked Minori.

Akane replied "Oh, don't worry about me. Besides, it's cold in there."

"Your kindness is very much appreciated," said Shintaro, spreading out the blankets and pillows on the ground. "We'll be sure to think of a plan tomorrow morning."

"I hope so," said Akane before closing the trapdoor for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Akane was serving vegetables for breakfast while Shintaro, Hanabi, and Minori sat at the table, plotting out the day's events. Kaji was giving his input from the sofa, still recuperating, and Wasumaru was looking out the windows, keeping the guards under a constant genjutsu. Occasionally, Wasumaru would glance over his shoulder, and draw on a piece of canvas against the wall.

"Our only shot is to infiltrate the castle again," said Shintaro. "If Iwao and the Kensugi brothers are patrolling the perimeter, then we should be able to take the castle."

"But what if one of them does patrol the castle?" asked Minori.

"The four of us should be able to take on one of them," said Hanabi. "Besides, with my Byakugan, we'll be able to set up a very effective sneak attack."

"Once we get inside, we can use the ninja supplies Kandegawa has to turn the castle into a fortress," said Shintaro.

"Sounds good," said Kaji. "Heck, I've already got some of his supplies on me," and he pulled out the box of exploding tags.

"That will certainly help, although we probably shouldn't use too many of those," said Shintaro. "We don't know just how sturdy the castle is from the inside."

"What about the guards?" asked Hanabi. "It would only take one of them to alert Iwao."

"I could do that," said Minori. "I can convince the people to stage a riot outside of the castle. It'll take every last guard they have to stop us."

"That'll be sure to also attract Iwao and the Kensugi's," said Hanabi.

"That's why we'll leave Wasumaru-san with you, Minori-chan," said Shintaro. "His genjutsu should be able to buy you a few seconds. All the same, if Iwao shows up, I want you two to retreat into the castle."

"Alright then," said Minori. Wasumaru turned and gave a slight nod before looking back at the guards outside.

Hanabi said "I'll be waiting in the main hallway to guide you two in. Kaji, as soon as we get into the castle, we should start setting traps right away, with priority given to all entry points."

"That's a lot of windows," said Kaji. Grinning, he gave a thumbs-up and said "But I'll do my best."

"Alright, so that's it," said Shintaro. "Minori-chan, we'll execute this plan at the guard's next shift change."

"That's at six tonight," said Minori. "That'll give me enough time to get to most of the village."

"Perhaps someone should go with her?" asked Akane, picking up their finished plates.

"No," said Shintaro. "The larger the squad, the more likely it is to be caught. Also, only Minori-chan knows how to effectively move around this village."

"Don't worry, I'm up for it," said Minori.

"Excellent," said Shintaro. "Go now, and stay hidden. Move from cover to cover, exploit patterns in their movements. Wasumaru will get you past these guards here, but we won't be able to move until tonight Minori-chan."

"I understand," said Minori, slingshot in hand.

"Be careful," said Akane, hugging her daughter.

"I will mom," said Minori, hugging her back.

"Go across the road to the next house on my signal," said Shintaro, making sure there were no other chakra signatures in the area. "Now!"

"See you guys tonight," said Minori as she left through the front door. The guards were completely oblivious to Minori passing right by them as she dashed for her neighbor's house, and she reached the door with no problems.

After Minori went inside, Shintaro said to Akane "Your daughter's very brave, and also takes good direction. If she grew up in the Leaf Village, she could've made a good ninja."

"Oh, she didn't get any of that from me," said Akane, still looking towards the door. "I hope she'll be alright…"

* * *

Minori left the ninth house she visited and hid next to it. She had good fortune in rounding up the villagers so far; most of the men in each of the houses agreed to riot in front of the castle. Even so, some were too fearful of retribution and kindly refused. Despite this, it seemed as if the plan could very well work.

She found it hard to cross the roads however; there were fewer people traveling along the roads and the guards made regular patrols instead of staying at their posts. It took several minutes of studying the movements of the guards, waiting for an opening where she could stay out of sight. Twice, she was nearly spotted. A part of her wanted to return home, letting the rest of the villagers spread the message by themselves.

"I'm not going to give up," Minori told herself. "This is for father."

Looking down the road, she made the dash to the next house. She had her hand on the doorknob when,

"Hey you!"

Minori's heart jumped as she turned: Ijimeki and two of his men had just turned the corner, and were now running in her direction.

Eyes widened in fear, she took out her slingshot and fired a stone at Ijimeki. He didn't even flinch as he swatted the stone away with his spear. Trying not to panic, she ran around the house, hoping to lose herself by weaving in and out of the thin passageways.

She didn't even have time to react when she felt a kunai scratch her arm. All of her muscles went limp almost instantly, and someone caught her before she fell and covered her eyes and mouth with a burlap bag.

She tried to scream, but a strong blow silenced her.

* * *

It was now early afternoon. Shintaro and Akane were sitting at the table, anxious about Minori. Hanabi and Kaji were sitting on the sofa. Even though his ribs were still hurting, Kaji was getting restless. "Man, can six o'clock get here any sooner?" he moaned.

"Be patient; you may be able to sit up now, but you still need some rest," said Hanabi next to him.

"She's right you know," said Shintaro. "We're going to need everything we can get if we want to-"

He suddenly stood up. "Someone's coming."

Jumping to their feet, Hanabi rushed to the window where Wasumaru was while Kaji took a ready stance. "Anyone we know?" asked Kaji, kunai out.

"No," replied Hanabi, "It looks like one of the other villagers."

"Alright then, let him in," said Shintaro as everyone relaxed.

Akane opened the front door. "Tomori-san?" she asked.

Tomori, apprehensive at first because of the guards, quickly rushed into the house past them. Short black hair and slightly taller and older than Akane, Tomori appeared to be out of breath. Shintaro offered his seat while Akane asked "What's wrong?"

"Akane-san…they…they took Minori-chan," he panted.

"W-what?" gasped Akane.

"What happened?" asked Shintaro as Hanabi and Kaji also listened in.

"I saw the whole thing," said Tomori. "She made it to Matsui-san's house before Ijimeki spotted her. She tried to go behind the house, but there was a masked man on the roof, definitely one of Kandegawa's ninjas. He, he jumped on her as soon as she went in, and took her towards the castle. I almost wanted to yell out to her, but Ijimeki was right there, and I, I just,"

"It's alright," said Shintaro. "Had you tried to help her, you would've been taken to the castle as well."

"No," said Akane as she sank to her knees, crying silently. "My daughter…they'll…they'll kill her too, won't they?"

"I'm sorry Akane," said Shintaro. "It seems like Ijimeki herded her into that alley right into the arms of Iwao. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew that we were staying here all along instead of trying to escape, he knows me too well. The only reason he didn't start a fight here is because it's too open."

"There is some good news however," he said, putting a comforting hand on Akane's shoulder. "I am certain that she's alive."

"How do you know that, sensei?" asked Hanabi.

"Like I said, Iwao knows me too well," replied Shintaro. "He wants us to surrender in exchange for Minori-chan. For that, she needs to be alive. I expect he wants us to go to the castle, and he knows that you'll be able to tell whether she's alive or not before we enter."

"Then… please do it," said Akane, looking at Shintaro. "I… I know it's selfish, but she's all I have left. Please!"

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," said Shintaro. "Once we surrender, there's no incentive for Iwao to release her. Kandegawa will lock her up, or worse."

"So what do we do?" asked Hanabi.

"There's still going to be a riot at six," said Shintaro. "We're going to go through with the plan, with a few adjustments of course."

Turning to Tomori, Shintaro asked "Can you spread the word to the village? Tell them that Minori-chan has been captured, and that we intend to retake her and defeat Kandegawa once and for all, and for this to happen, there needs to be a full scale riot at the base of the castle."

"I'll go too," said Akane, "I'll do whatever I can."

"No, you stay here Akane-san," said Shintaro. "You're still under house arrest, remember? Don't worry; we will get her back alive. I swear my life on it."

"Yeah, me too!" said Kaji, giving a thumbs-up.

"And me," said Hanabi, face determined.

Wasumaru turned from the window and gave another slight nod.

Wiping her eyes, Akane nodded and said "Thank you. Please bring her back."

"I have to go," said Tomori as he turned to leave. "There are a lot of houses I have to visit."

As he left, Kaji asked Shintaro "So, what's the new plan?"

"We'll want to get there before the riot starts," said Shintaro. "Iwao can't suspect anything before the trade happens. We can't be careless either; we have to assume that Iwao will take every precaution. Let's go to the castle now and scout the area."

"Yes sensei," said Hanabi and Kaji.

* * *

The team had snuck out of the house easily due to Wasumaru's genjutsu. They decided to take the long way around the village, hidden by the surrounding forest. Now sitting in the bushes behind the base of the white and green castle, they could see that all the windows in the castle were closed.

Hanabi activated her Byakugan and searched every inch while Kaji and Shintaro were looking out for any signs of danger. Wasumaru was busy drawing the back of the castle in gray, green, and black ink.

"There's Iwao and the Kensugi's on the top floor with Kandegawa," said Hanabi. "Hayaku has Minori-san at knifepoint. There are also alarm seal and kunai traps all around the windows, except for the one across the room from the target. The front door is locked and also has an alarm seal. And there are about twenty-five guards in the castle: ten in the main foyer, and five patrolling the next three levels. No guards at the top though, I guess Kandegawa doesn't want any other witnesses."

"Damn, he has the place locked and trapped already," said Kaji, frustrated.

"That doesn't mean we can't add some traps of our own," said Shintaro. "Kaji, how much chakra do you have now?"

"Well, I'm still reeling from last night, but I did pick up a few of these," Kaji replied as he pulled out a soldier pill.

"Good," said Shintaro. "Alright, so I was thinking we could- hmm?"

He stopped abruptly, as Wasumaru was tugging on his sleeve, finished drawing in hand. Unlike his other works, it appeared to be a rough, sloppy outline of the castle; there were several spots where the three colors he used overlapped. Despite this, Wasumaru offered the drawing to Shintaro.

"Wasumaru-san, this really isn't the time," said Hanabi exasperatedly.

"Hmm, let's see what you have there," said Shintaro as he picked up the drawing, which Kaji and Hanabi thought was very unusual as far as they knew.

"Oh, the ink's still wet," said Shintaro as he brought the ink to his nose and sniffed. "I see…"

"Eh?" wondered Hanabi and Kaji.

"Right then, back to the plan," said Shintaro, smiling.

* * *

Hanabi and Shintaro both jumped into the window on the top floor, only a hallway separating them from Iwao, Kandegawa, Hayaku, and Tego. All of them were standing in a very large office with all of its windows boarded up with seals. Kandegawa was behind his desk, surveying the scene. Minori was bound to a chair with her arms tied at the wrists and her mouth gagged, desperately trying to warn the two ninja to turn back. Hayaku had his scythe to her neck. Tego was smiling contently, arms crossed, and Iwao was in front, his sword at his side.

"Ah, come in, come in," Kandegawa said, grinning as always. "Iwao-san said you'd be here."

"But I see that there's two of you missing," said Iwao. "How disappointing…"

"I sent them back to the Leaf Village," said Shintaro. "It'll take them too long to get any real help. They have their lives ahead of them, and you're only interested in the two of us."

"Hmm, touching," said Iwao, and he threw two kunai at Hanabi and Shintaro. Both of them raised their arms instinctively, and the two kunai scratched each of their arms. A moment later, they fell to the ground, their muscles limp.

"Sorry, insurance you see," said Iwao. "Wouldn't want you trying anything here. Oh, and I don't quite believe you would send your genin home so quickly. Tego. Hayaku."

"Yes sir?" the two brothers asked.

"Search the castle for any intruders; we don't want any surprises now."

"Yes sir," and the two of them walked past the prone bodies of Hanabi and Shintaro and left the room down the stairwell at the other end of the hallway.

"So, all that matters now is tying up loose ends," said Iwao, and he pressed his sword nonchalantly against Minori's neck. Panicked tears slowly flowing from her brown eyes, she looked at Iwao for mercy, although Iwao was laughing mirthlessly, not even looking in her direction.

"Oh, I can't bear to see a child being killed like this," Kandegawa sighed. "So, goodbye everyone," and he strolled out of the room as well.

Gritting his teeth, Shintaro said "You don't have to do this Iwao; that girl is no threat to you."

"Oh, I know that," sneered Iwao. "But, you see, it's just so much, _fun,_ watching the look on your face, well, what's left of it anyway, when you've let someone down that you know dearly. To anyone else, this, peasant, would mean nothing. But you Shintaro, I know you so well, she means as much to you as your dearest friends. Hmm, this is all too familiar, isn't it, Shintaro? When this girl is killed by me, it'll be just like when I killed _her,_ won't it?"

"Bastard!" Shintaro spat as he struggled to move. "Don't you _dare_ talk about her! You have no right!"

Hanabi turned her head to look at her sensei. _"Who's he talking about? I've never seen sensei this angry before."_

Iwao simply laughed again and said "Oh, that did strike a chord, didn't it? Well, when I killed her it was the last thing you ever saw, so it's only fitting that your reaction when I kill this girl will be the last time I'm ever going to look at your face again."

He then sliced Minori's neck with his sword. However, no blood hit the floor. Confused for an instant, Iwao turned to see that he had sliced a notch in a log where Minori sat.

"What the-"

Iwao turned to look back at Shintaro and Hanabi, and barely got his sword out in front of him to block two thrown kunai. To his surprise, Shintaro and Hanabi were both up, and Iwao had to jump back to avoid a forward slash by Shintaro, missing him by an inch.

"Grr," grunted Iwao as he saw Kaji grinning at the window, Minori in his arms. Shintaro and Hanabi blocked the doorway as Kaji ran down the steps.

Meanwhile, the three guards at the entrance to the castle were very nervous as a large crowd encompassed of what seemed to be every villager, man, woman, and child, advanced towards them. Each one carried some sort of weapon, from farming tools to rocks. Wasumaru was leading them, pen and pad in hand as he sketched the castle from the front.

Hearing the commotion outside, Ijimeki opened the front door. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked.

The crowd roared in unison as rocks and even rotten vegetables rained down upon the front entrance, some spilling into the castle. The three guards in front began to falter, but Ijimeki forced them into formation. "Get every last man out here!" barked Ijimeki as a tomato hit his face.

Back at the top of the castle, Iwao was seething. "So, you think you're so clever, do you? No matter; I'll defeat you myself, and deliver you personally to my buyers."

"You really think so?" asked Shintaro, sword at the ready. "Nothing has gone according to your plans today Iwao. I don't even think you really believe what you're saying right now."

"I believe I am better than you!" yelled Iwao, shifting to an attack stance. "I was always better than you Shintaro Misumi. You and the Hyuga are mine!"

* * *

Kaji: Oh yeah baby! This is it! I'm gonna kick the Kensugi brothers all over the castle!

Hanabi: But Tego and Hayaku are serious now. This isn't going to be easy.

Kaji: Never is. And you really don't wanna miss this. We're gonna pull out all the stops for this fight!

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Executing the Plan: Rematch Against the Kensugi Brothers!

Hanabi: We can't let up! Those two are going down!

* * *

Ninja Academy Training

(Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru are outside on the training grounds. Wasumaru is off to the side, drawing)

Kaji: Today, we're going to learn the common, but important, Substitution jutsu!

Hanabi: This jutsu utilizes chakra to instantly exchange yourself with a nearby object. The object can even be another person, or a clone. The possibilities are endless.

Kaji: If you become good enough at this jutsu, you can even exchange a nearby person with a nearby object!

Hanabi: Kaji will demonstrate.

(Hanabi throws a shuriken at Kaji. A puff of smoke covers Kaji for an instant, revealing a log with the shuriken imbedded in it.)

Kaji: *catches the log* There! The attack is blocked, and I'm completely unharmed.

Hanabi: Master this jutsu, and you can quickly gain the upper hand in battle.

Hanabi: *turns towards Kaji, eyebrow raised* Come to think of it, where do you find all of these logs?

Kaji: *perplexed* Y'know… I've never really thought about that…

* * *

Note from the Author: A Good Villain

When I think of a villain, I think of someone who only thinks of himself, and will do anything and hurt anyone just to get an inch. A good villain also has to be able to be on par with the heroes, otherwise there's little to no conflict. I made Iwao to be really clever, like Shintaro. Unlike Shintaro however, Iwao is smug, cold-hearted, and just plain mean. As fun as it is to write about heroes triumphing over the bad guys, it's also _really_ satisfying to write the part where the villain has his moment to get one over the good guys. And I hope that you all have fun hating the villain in this story just as much as loving the part where the villain gets his comeuppance.

* * *

A/N: Ok, I know it's been over a year, and I'm sorry for that. That is totally me being lazy, but I didn't feel right about not finishing this first mission.

However, the reason I write on sites like this is to get better. And the only way I can get better is to know what I'm doing wrong. That's where you guys come in. I know it's noobish to beg for reviews, but please review and tell me what you think I could improve on, because if I really am perfect at writing, you'd think I'd have a lot of books already published. It only takes a minute to do. And thank you for being so patient with me.

Anyway, next chapter is in a week, for sure this time. I know; I've prewritten the next two.


	9. Rematch Against the Kensugi Brothers!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 9: Executing the Plan: Rematch Against the Kensugi Brothers!

Hanabi and Shintaro were squaring off against Iwao. Hanabi had two kunai in her hands while both Shintaro and Iwao had their katanas.

Iwao was angry and confused. "How did you stave off the effects of nemuri so quickly?" he wondered.

"When you use the same poison over and over again, you can expect someone to find a counter for it," replied Shintaro. "Wasumaru-san's pastel kit is made up of different ground herbs. I expect he could make any number of poisons out of them, or antidotes."

Iwao growled in frustration as Shintaro continued "And I wouldn't expect your nemuri to work on those two either; we all had a little bit of the antidote, enough for the rest of the night."

"Hmm," said Iwao, pondering. "I see I've underestimated you, Shintaro. No matter however; now we fight with skill alone! As I said before, I was always better than you at dueling one on one."

"Except it's not one on one," said Hanabi, raising her kunai knives. "I'm going to fight you too."

"No, Hanabi-chan," said Shintaro calmly. "This is my fight."

"But, sensei," Hanabi began to protest.

"Hanabi-chan, you promised me," said Shintaro firmly. "Go and help Kaji-san fight the Kensugi brothers; I'll know you two will be able to defeat them. Besides, I don't want to worry about you while I'm fighting him."

"Yes, go on little Hyuga," sneered Iwao, "I'll be down to pick you up right after I take care of your sensei."

Hanabi was very reluctant to go, but after giving Shintaro one last worried look, she took off downstairs.

"Now then, shall we begin?" asked Iwao, ready to attack.

"We shall," replied Shintaro.

And in an instant, the two were striking at each other, nearly too fast for the human eye to follow. Their swords were moving so fast through the air that the papers on Kandegawa's desk were being scattered across the room, and shredded as if they did not exist. Each man was trying to gain the upper hand in the fight, but the attacks were so vicious and numerous that one would attack and then block and then counterattack, with no clear advantage being gained by either of them.

"Really now, you should have just surrendered," said Iwao, parrying a strike. "The result would have been the same, only I'll have to tear you into pieces first!"

"You can surrender if you like," replied Shintaro, sidestepping the parry and countering. "You can be locked up by the Leaf Village rather than be executed by me."

"How do you expect to carry out my sentence without a leg to stand on?" asked Iwao, and he shifted his weight to move Shintaro's blade out of the way. Wide open, Shintaro barely avoided a lethal strike by pulling back his forward leg as the tip of Iwao's sword scratched his upper thigh. The scratch became a very thin line of red just large enough for the tiniest drops of blood to seep through.

At the same time, Shintaro moved his blade with Iwao's attack, and cut a similar wound into Iwao's exposed forward leg. Iwao's face betrayed a surprised look as blood began to escape as well.

Both men slightly wounded, they each took a step backward into a neutral stance. "Well well," said Iwao, "looks like you've improved since the last time we fought…"

"Yes, you've always used that move to win our sparring matches." asked Shintaro. "You were right about one thing; you _were_ better than me. But now I think you'll find that I've surpassed you, my former comrade."

"Hmph, we'll see," scoffed Iwao, and the two leapt towards each other again, clashing swords in midair.

* * *

Kaji was running down the stairs until he reached the fourth floor balcony, still carrying Minori in his arms. "I tell ya, that was a close one, am I right?" he grinned. "Good thing I had enough chakra to pull off that substitution jutsu. Man, I'm glad I picked up those soldier pills; real high quality stuff. I never thought I'd thank Kandegawa for anything, bu- hey, what's all the commotion about?"

Looking down into the foyer, Kaji could see that every single guard was rushing out of the castle, spears at the ready. Outside, he could hear the roar of the crowd as Ijimeki tried to create some sort of order.

Grinning, Kaji said "Heh, looks like our plan worked like a charm, right Minori-ch- oh." He stopped sheepishly when he realized that Minori could not reply due to being gagged.

Setting her down, he quickly cut her bindings with a kunai and untied the thick piece of cloth covering her mouth. "There," said Kaji. "I think that's bet- whoa!"

Kaji had to steady himself, for Minori had flung her arms around him, crying and laughing into his shoulder. "Thank you," she sobbed, visibly shaken by the past few hours.

"H-hey now!" stammered Kaji, blushing. "I didn't know I was impressive enough to make you so lovey-dovey."

"Oh, shut up," said Minori as she pushed him away, albeit with a small smile on her face.

"Like I said, close one, right?" asked Kaji, returning her smile.

Minori nodded, still shaking.

"You shouldn've worried," said Kaji, giving her a thumbs up. "We're professionals. Now, time to get you outta here," he said as he offered his back to Minori. Quickly securing herself on Kaji's back, Minori said "Thanks again," as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't sweat it," grinned Kaji. "Now, hold on!"

And Kaji leapt off of the balcony to land in the middle of the foyer, absorbing all of the impact with his legs and arms. Running towards the entrance, he opened the doors to the castle as Minori let go of him.

Minori stared in disbelief at what awaited them as Kaji laughed and said "Now _that's_ a riot!"

The entire village was standing in front of the castle with Wasumaru sitting in front of them, still drawing, and they cheered at the sight of Minori alive. Looking around in awe, Minori spotted her mother standing next to Tomori in the middle of it all.

"We're all here for you, Minori-chan!" yelled Tomori, and the crowd roared its approval.

However, Ijimeki and about forty guards still remained at the steps, and they turned to look at Kaji and Minori. "Seize them!" he yelled while the crowd booed.

"Oh yeah? Watch this!" yelled Kaji, putting his hands together. "Clone jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke, and an identical copy of Kaji stood next to the original. Before anyone could react, Kaji grabbed Minori by the waist, apologized by saying "Excuse me," and flung Minori into the air. His clone immediately jumped over the stunned guards to catch her before landing safely in the crowd next to Akane.

As the Kaji clone dispersed, Minori hugged her mother with all the strength she could muster. "Mom," she cried as Akane silently comforted her, tears of joy and relief trickling from their eyes as the entire mob went wild, knowing that probably their most precious villager was finally safe.

"Cool," Kaji sighed. "It's moments like these that get me all choked up," he said, wiping away an imaginary tear.

"You!" Ijimeki barked at Kaji, wiping the look off of his face. "You're under arrest! Men, get him!"

"Ah ah ah," said Kaji, stopping all of the guards with one finger. "I'm not done yet. For my next trick…" and he quickly pulled out four smoke bombs and threw them all at his feet. At once, the castle entrance briefly became covered in thick black smoke.

All of the guards were coughing and choking on the dark murk, helpless to do anything, let alone try to find Kaji. And when the smoke had cleared, Ijimeki saw that Kaji had retreated back into the castle and had shut the mighty doors, locking it from the inside.

"No!" he growled, looking for someone to vent his anger. Spotting Wasumaru in front of the crowd, he yelled "Men, that's one of the enemy ninja as well! Arrest him!"

All forty guards turned their spears towards the unimposing Wasumaru, earning another rain of boos from the crowd. Many of them feared that the crowd would attack if they were to threaten the boy, but they simply feared their captain more.

As soon as the guards took a step forward however, they all saw the same thing; Wasumaru was growing to an enormous size, taller than the castle itself. The skies were black, and the only light was coming from the red glow of Wasumaru's eyes, illuminating his bared mouth, full of sharp teeth and acid that dripped down to the ground, sizzling at his feet.

Screams filled the air as the guards abandoned all manner of control as well as their weapons, fleeing into the woods as the crowd laughed and cheered. Try as he might, Ijimeki could not get a single one of his men to stand his ground.

Turning towards Wasumaru, who had gone back to drawing, Ijimeki roared "My men were all scared off by a boy? Grr!"

Running up to Wasumaru, Ijimeki was about to apprehend him when Wasumaru said quietly "Give up. Now."

"What? How dare you!" said Ijimeki, grabbing Wasumaru by his collar and hoisting him up to eye level. "You're going to spend the rest of your life in the dungeon, do you hea-"

But Wasumaru looked deep into Ijimeki's eyes. _"Seishinkatsu…"_

_And suddenly, everyone, everywhere, disappeared in front of Ijimeki. "Wh-what? What's this?" he yelled to no one. The buildings, and houses, and even the castle were still there, but they were devoid of life. Panicking, Ijimeki ran through the village, trying to find someone, anyone. After an hour without running into a single person, Wasumaru's voice whispered throughout the empty world._

"_You don't like people, so you deserve to be without people," said the emotionless voice._

"_What? No!" yelled Ijimeki as he continued running for hours, even days, the voice echoing over and over again, trying to find any signs of life. But it was hopeless; there was no escape. Even the colors of the buildings and the grass and the trees seemed to dull as Ijimeki sank to his knees in despair. He began to cry…he began to whimper…_

_He began to scream…_

Wasumaru had finally finished his drawing, that of Ijimeki on his knees, a look of purest anguish on his face. He set it aside, and went to work on a blank sheet of paper.

* * *

Kaji had just closed and barred the doors to the castle. Admiring his handiwork, he wondered "Now, I wonder where the Kensugi losers ran off to…"

He didn't have to wait long. "We're not losers!" boomed Tego, landing on the remains of the rock garden with a mighty crash.

A grin on his face, Kaji said "Ah, perfect timing; I was ready to kick your ass all over this castle."

"Really now, are you sure you'll be able to do that?" said Hayaku, landing next to his brother, kusarigama in hand.

Worried for a split second, Kaji brought out two kunai knives and said bravely "Bring it on, I can take both of you!"

"Hah! You wish to fight the Kensugi brothers by yourself? That takes a lot of guts, kid," laughed Tego, smashing his hands together.

"Unfortunately, you're going to find out what it really means to fight us alone," sneered Hayaku.

"No, he won't!"

As Hayaku went in to attack, he was stopped by a flying kick from out of nowhere to the side of his face, launching him through the shoji door into the next room. Hanabi landed next to a stunned Tego, her Byakugan active.

"Hanabi-chan, what a surprise!" said Kaji, smiling.

"How did you escape this time?" wondered Tego.

"Very easily," replied Hanabi. "Kaji, you get Tego, I'll get the other one!"

Hayaku pulled himself out of the hole he made in the door, only to immediately guard a flying kick by Hanabi.

"You won't escape this time," said Hayaku, grabbing her leg and throwing her into the room; a spacious meeting hall with several wires from the walls and ceilings and a closed window with an alarm seal.

Immediately spotting all of the traps, Hanabi planted her hands and rounded off, twisting her body around all of the wires and landing on her feet. "Wasn't planning on it," said Hanabi as the two circled each other, stepping over all of the traps.

* * *

Kaji avoided another wild swing by Tego and threw another shuriken that glanced off of his black armor. "I'm just too fast for ya," Kaji taunted, taking out a kunai.

"Aargh, stay still you punk!" yelled Tego, slamming his fists into the boards in the floor under Kaji. The boards acted like a catapult, launching Kaji into the air. However, he performed a graceful back flip and landed on his feet.

Kaji began to grin when Tego then yelled "Hammer of Judgment!" Swinging his fist now covered in blue chakra, he threw a massive punch towards Kaji.

Wondering how Tego was going to hit him with a punch from so far away, Kaji suddenly felt an overwhelming force slam into his chest, sending him through the remains of the rock garden and hitting the grand staircase again in a heap.

"Ha ha ha, I win!" yelled Tego, arms raised in victory.

* * *

Hayaku and Hanabi were still moving cautiously around the room. Sneering, Hayaku said "Want to make the first move?"

"Sure," replied Hanabi.

But instead of attacking Hayaku, Hanabi cut a wire that was low against the wall and moved out of the way as a shuriken fired towards him.

"Hah, interesting," he said, moving out of the way. The shuriken traveled onward, cutting another wire that sent a shuriken flying towards Hanabi, but she snatched it right out of the air.

"Nemuri, huh?" said Hanabi, noting the moist substance at the tips of the shuriken. "Iwao laid all of these traps then?"

"Yes, and we know each and every one of their locations," said Hayaku. "But I suppose you do too, don't you, little Hyuga?"

"Yeah, I see them," said Hanabi. "Very well designed; the first trap activates the next if it misses. Get hit once and you're poisoned. Too bad for you my Byakugan can detect anything that comes my way, so don't think I'll be getting hit by these traps any time soon."

"Really?" said Hayaku, "We'll see about that!" And he cut a wire with his scythe, sending a shuriken towards Hanabi.

Catching the shuriken in front of her, Hanabi's eyes widened as she saw the flying weight of the kusarigama heading for her chest. Twisting out of the way, Hanabi gritted her teeth as the weight triggered another trap that sent a shuriken at her at close range.

She barely caught it with her lead hand, but could not avoid a kick from Hayaku that caught her midsection, forcing her to land awkwardly on her hands and feet to avoid triggering any more traps.

"You see now," said Hayaku, "your Byakugan can _show_ you all these traps, but I _know_ where all these traps are. I could fight here without ever needing to take my focus off of my opponent, meaning I have the advantage here." And he started pressing the attack with his scythe as Hanabi had to avoid the slashing blade and the wires, not even being allowed to get in a single counterattack.

"Hnn," she gasped as she was cut several times, not being able to dodge the attacks effectively. Even worse, she was being backed into a corner, her escape routes blocked by the sheer ferocity of Hayaku's attacks.

"_This is bad,"_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Tego was still laughing as he strode over to Kaji's prone body. "Ha ha, aww, he's sleeping," he boomed, poking Kaji with a fat finger.

"Time to sleep forever," and Tego raised his arms and brought them down onto the staircase, smashing the wood into splinters.

When the dust had settled, Tego's grin turned into confusion as Kaji was no longer there. "What? Where did he go?" he wondered, looking around.

A single kunai clattered at Tego's feet. Staring at it for a brief moment, he gasped as he brought his guard up. The paper bomb that was attached to the kunai detonated, knocking Tego off of his feet.

"Up here, loser!" taunted Kaji from the third floor balcony.

"Grr, you, how did you," said Tego, perplexed.

"If you really must know, I had a spare soldier pill," said Kaji. "Man, those things are good. Catch me if you can, fatso!" And he turned and ran into the next room.

With a roar of anger, Tego leapt up onto the third floor railing and hoisted himself over, following Kaji.

Kaji found himself in a large room held up by four support pillars. The space was filled with many boxes as tall as he was and they seemed to hold trade goods by the labels on them naming their destinations. Most of them were to be sent to farms and other villages. Since there were no windows, the only light in the room came from a solitary lamp in the ceiling.

"A storage room, eh?" wondered Kaji as the door behind him burst open. Turning around, he saw a furious Tego growling at him. "Made it up here already? Jeez, ya sure move fast for a fat guy," he said, kunai knife at the ready.

"I'm not fat!" yelled Tego, stamping the floor so hard that the entire room shook. "I am mighty and powerful!

"If you're so powerful, then why're ya having so much trouble against a kid?" asked Kaji with a smirk.

Arm glowing blue again, Tego bellowed "I'll show you trouble! Hammer of Judgment!"

Anticipating the attack, Kaji flipped backwards into cover behind a box as Tego swung his potent fist. Although the force that hit Kaji was weakened considerably, the box in front of him took the full force of the attack, pushing him towards a stack of boxes against a wall that threatened to crush him.

Thinking quickly, Kaji pushed backwards off of his moving cover towards the stack of boxes. Reaching into his pouch at the same time, he pulled out a second kunai and buried them both into the box above him. Using the buried knives as handgrips, Kaji hoisted himself just inches above the top of his former cover as it slammed into the stack.

He had no time to rest however, for Tego was only meters away, charging right for him. Grinning, Kaji took his kunai and leapt over Tego, jamming it into the ceiling so that he was hovering over the floor.

Kaji was just in time to escape the explosion that launched the box into Tego's chest: when Kaji took his kunai from his pouch, he had also grabbed a paper bomb and left it between his cover and the wall. "Grugh!" grunted Tego as the box crushed him against a pillar, cracking the hard wood with his enormous weight.

"Whoo, that was close," said Kaji as he dropped to the floor and surveyed the damage, kunai in hand.

But Tego suddenly pushed the damaged box towards Kaji, who had to quickly leap over the debris. Before Kaji could land, Tego yelled "Hammer of Judgment!" and threw another devastating punch at Kaji, the force catching him full in the chest. The impact launched Kaji into the ceiling, bouncing him off of the wood and sending him into a crash landing against the boxes against the wall, shattering them.

Breathing heavily, Kaji spat out a trickle of blood and stood up. "Man, why don't ya just stay down?" he said, panting.

* * *

Hanabi was backed against a corner while Hayaku threw the weight of his kusarigama over and over at her at close range. Every time she tried to get past the weight, Hayaku would hold her back with his scythe.

"If I have to, I'll just beat you into submission!" said Hayaku as he threw the weight again, catching Hanabi in the shoulder.

Hanabi had small cuts and bruises all over her, but she would not give up. She knew she had to bide her time, wait for an opening…

"_Now!"_ she thought, springing into action.

Right as Hayaku started to throw the weight, Hanabi pushed off from the corner straight for him. She twisted herself parallel to the path of the weight as it passed by about a centimeter from her. Blocking away the scythe with her right arm, Hanabi aimed for Hayaku's face with her left palm. Hayaku was forced to arch backwards to let Hanabi sail over him.

Coming out of a perfect roll in the center of the room, Hanabi had to quickly duck and weave under shuriken and kunai: having briefly lost control of his kusarigama, Hayaku had inadvertently set off several traps as the chain came to rest on the wires.

The room had turned into a whirling dervish of poisoned blades. Hayaku and Hanabi had to quickly react to all of the traps that were being set off, some coming too close for comfort. Finally, Hayaku used his scythe to deflect a shuriken harmlessly into a wall while Hanabi managed to catch two kunai out of the air.

The room finally still, the two ninja turned to face each other again.

Eyeing the kunai in Hanabi's hands, Hayaku nodded and said "I see. So, you've found an antidote to the nemuri, otherwise we wouldn't be having this battle in the first place."

Hanabi nodded in response. "Judging from the way you're looking at these," noting the two kunai in her hands, "Iwao didn't give you any."

Scoffing, Hayaku said "It won't matter in the slightest. You may have your knives, but I have this!"

Forming a series of hand seals, he cried "Shadow Replica jutsu!" His shadow split into three and came to life. Now Hanabi was facing four Hayaku's, each of them armed with kusarigamas.

Hayaku sneered and said "Your Byakugan can't tell us apart because these replicas share the same amount of chakra as me. You had enough problems with facing me alone, but now you'll have to deal with four of me!"

"Tch," spat Hanabi, readying herself. "I'll deal with you alright…"

* * *

Kaji was trying to find some way to damage Tego effectively, but thus far he was stumped by his Hammer of Judgment jutsu.

"Jeez," he gasped, clutching his ribs, "I can't take any more direct hits…"

"Something the matter little boy?" laughed Tego. "And I haven't even gotten my real hands on you yet! Don't tell me you're done after all that talk!"

"I'm not done yet!" Kaji yelled back. "I just, need a second here, alright?"

"Ha ha ha, too bad little shrimp, but I'm hungry now!" said Tego, building chakra again into his right arm.

"_Ugh, c'mon Kaji, think! Hanabi-chan told you that this attack makes a pressure wave that hits the opponent. That's certainly what it feels like. Well, your brilliant plan to judge the range of this attack's not been working so far, and these boxes don't make for really good cover…"_ Kaji thought. He then spotted the pillars. _"Oh!"_

Tego was ready to throw his punch again as he said "Say goodnight, little shr- hey!"

Kaji had darted from his position towards the far pillar while Tego yelled "Hammer of Judgment!" and sent another shockwave through the air. Diving headfirst into cover behind the pillar, Kaji was untouched as the support began to crack.

"Ohh, trying to hide now, are you?" roared Tego as he snuck around the pillar where Kaji was hiding. When Kaji was in sight, he roared "Hammer of Judgment!" and threw another punch at him.

Kaji dashed for the next pillar across from him, sliding out of the way of the blast. _"Okay, that's a good way of avoiding his attacks, but now what do I do to attack back?"_ he thought as he looked around. He smelled something strange in the air, something coming from one of the boxes across from him. Peering inside from where he was, Kaji could barely make out containers that had a distinct warning label on them.

"_Lamp oil? That'll do…"_ thought Kaji as he grinned and formed a simple hand seal.

"Come out little punk, come out and fight me…" growled Tego as he turned the corner and saw Kaji standing there.

"Fine then, I will!" yelled Kaji, leaping at Tego with a kunai.

But Tego caught him easily by the throat. Lifting Kaji up, Tego said "You little pest, you can't hurt me with this," and he wrenched the kunai out of Kaji's hand and tossed it aside.

Struggling in Tego's mighty grip, Kaji inexplicably grinned, causing Tego to raise an eyebrow.

"Huh?" he wondered.

Suddenly, Tego was grabbed from behind in a choke hold by another Kaji, covered with at least fifteen paper bombs

"Then let's see if I can hurt you with this!" said Kaji, sticking a paper bomb to Tego's forehead.

Spotting the box of oil, the burning paper bomb in his vision, and the real Kaji running from the other side of the pillar, diving for the door, Tego struggled to break free, shouting "NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Hanabi and Hayaku were startled by a sudden explosion that shook the entire castle. With her Byakugan, Hanabi immediately knew where the explosion came from. _"Kaji,"_ she thought, concern on her face.

"You shouldn't leave yourself open!" said Hayaku as he and his doppelgangers attacked in a whirlwind of blades.

Hanabi blocked the lead attacks and danced out of the way of the others, but it was quickly becoming too much for her. She received several scratches on her back and arms and legs trying to avoid lethal blows.

Blocking another strike from one of the Hayaku's, she finally attacked by swinging her kunai at the arm of the one next to him, only for the knife to fall harmlessly through. She endured a kick from behind for her trouble that launched her into the center of the room.

Picking herself up, she found herself surrounded by the four of them. Taking a deep breath, she dropped into the gentle fist stance, concentrating with her Byakugan.

The four Hayaku's began to talk one at a time. "The gentle fist stance," said one.

"The most feared stance in all of the Leaf Village," said another.

"But I've already told you…"

"It's no use…"

"If you can't tell us apart!"

And the one behind Hanabi attacked, scythe in hand. Hanabi countered by sidestepping the strike and thrusting the kunai into his arm, but the clone sank back into the ground.

Seeing two more of him attacking from behind from either side, Hanabi gritted her teeth as she twirled around, preparing to block both of their strikes.

And instead of blocking them, Hanabi kept twirling towards the one out of range that was flanking her, the one that had thrown the weight of the kusarigama at her back while she was supposedly distracted…

…The one who looked surprised that Hanabi telegraphed the attack, and was now moving along the chain towards himself. Hanabi threw both of her kunai at Hayaku who had stumbled backwards to avoid them. Tripping over a wire, Hayaku set off a kunai that landed a few inches behind him. It took only a moment for him to realize that the kunai had a paper bomb attached to it. "What?" he exclaimed, shielding himself with his arms.

The force of the explosion set off the remaining traps while Hayaku was sent flying towards the front of the room, scratched by many kunai and shuriken at the same time. He landed in front of Hanabi, who was waiting for him.

"Hyaa!" cried Hanabi as she struck Hayaku's chest with all the chakra she could muster.

A look of shock on his face, Hayaku fell to his knees as his clones dispersed back into shadow. Coughing up blood and sapped of all his chakra, he fell onto his side and gasped "Wh…where did that trap come from?"

"Kaji," replied Hanabi. "Or his clone at least. We had him waiting outside this room; he went through the window as soon as the riot started. You were so sure about the locations of all the traps you laid in here that you didn't notice there was an extra one among them. I spotted it immediately of course; I was the one who came up with the idea."

"_So she deliberately chose this room as our battlefield?"_ thought Hayaku. "Th-then…how did you know which one of us to attack?"

"Simple," said Hanabi, looking down at her defeated opponent. "You underestimated my Byakugan. You thought that you were safe because I couldn't pick the real one out of your clones, but as soon as you attacked me, I could see you very clearly. You like to use your clones to distract the enemy, and then you attack from behind once your opponent is disoriented. I saw that when you were fighting Shintaro-sensei yesterday."

"Your tendency to attack from behind cost you," said Hanabi, turning to walk out of the room. "You should never prey on the weak…because it's only a matter of time before you prey on something that can fight back."

And as Hayaku's body went limp, Hanabi left the room triumphantly, wondering if Kaji and Shintaro were okay.

* * *

Kaji: Yeah! We win! Whoo-hoo!

Hanabi: Not just yet; Iwao's still fighting Shintaro-sensei. We need to defeat him once and for all.

Kaji: Fine! I wasn't done yet anyway! I still have plenty of energy left!

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Comrades in Arms: Team Three vs. Iwao Metsuki!

Hanabi: I'm sorry sensei, but this is one promise I never should have made.

* * *

Ninja Training Academy

(Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru are in a classroom. "Soldier Pills" is written on the blackboard)

Hanabi: Today, we're going to learn about soldier pills.

Kaji: My favorite ninja tool!

Hanabi: No doubt…

Kaji: *Holds up a small pill* This little guy here is made up of nutrients and stimulants that help the body produce more chakra during battle. It's said that one o' these babies can make ya fight for three straight days, but I've personally never had one last more than a few hours.

Hanabi: *narrows eyes* You're sure going through a lot of them lately. You're not suffering from a soldier pill dependency, are you?

Kaji: *raises eyebrow* N-no… why'd you ask?

(Shintaro enters from the side)

Shintaro: Because that's why we're really here; to help you out, because we all love you, Kaji-kun.

(Board flips over to reveal "Soldier Pill Consumers Anonymous", spotlight centers on Kaji)

Kaji: …

Kaji: …

Kaji: …I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM!

* * *

Note from the Author: Constructing a Fight Scene

When I try to make a good fight scene, I look for an overall theme the fight is going to have. For example, if the fight is between two resourceful people, I'll try to have it be more like a battle of wits. Writing a good fight sequence also requires good flow and pacing. I personally like to write one fighter gaining an advantage over the other and have the other fighter try to find some way to overcome it. Basically, it turns into a game of who can be the last one to get one over the other.

I also try and have the characters use whatever tools they have around them. I'm actually a big Jackie Chan fan, and that's how he designs his fight sequences; by having props all over the place for the fighters to use. It's a lot of fun to write, it makes the characters seem clever, and hopefully it's also great to read. I hope that my fight sequences capture that Naruto-like feel, and that you enjoy reading them.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter in a week, and I hope you enjoy it. Please review!


	10. Team Three vs Iwao Metsuki

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 10: Comrades in Arms: Team Three vs. Iwao Metsuki!

Hanabi stepped into the foyer and hurried over to the grand staircase so she could see the room on the third floor. She could feel the intense heat on her skin as she witnessed the entire room was on fire, thick black smoke emanating from within.

"Kaji!" Hanabi cried out.

"What?" said a voice from above.

Relieved, Hanabi turned around to see Kaji grinning on the second floor balcony, albeit with several burn marks on his clothes. "Don't tell me you're concerned for me, Hanabi-chan?"

Smiling, Hanabi scoffed and replied "Not at all; just wondering if we'd have to replace you."

"Tch, yeah right," said Kaji as he jumped down. "So, didja beat Hayaku?"

"What do you think?" said Hanabi. "I see you beat Tego, to say the least…"

"Yeah," said Kaji sheepishly. "I probably used too many paper bombs, but you can never be too sure…"

No longer smiling, Kaji looked up at the ceiling. "How's sensei doing?"

"Let's see…" said Hanabi as she focused her Byakugan towards the top floor.

* * *

Shintaro and Iwao were both breathing heavily, each man with many cuts on their legs and arms. Even still, neither one was able to take advantage over the other.

The room was in tatters; the wooden desk that Kandegawa sat at was chopped in two, the walls had large scratches where lethal blows were dodged, and the floor was littered with sliced papers peppered in blood.

Clashing in the center of the room, staring each other down, Shintaro asked "What made you work for a scumbag like Kandegawa?"

Iwao cracked a grin. "Hah, Lord Kandegawa? Simple: we both needed money. I figured that the easiest way to earn it was to deliver ninjas on the bingo book, and Kandegawa was the only one capable and willing to lure them in. Hmph, he plans to retire off to some foreign land once we collected. I planned on killing that fool after this job; he doesn't need to waste any more resources on his pathetic goals."

"And what of your goals, Iwao?" said Shintaro. "You never told me, that night when you betrayed the village."

"Me? I plan on hiring a team to keep the balance of power in check," he replied. "Your naïve village fights for peace, a desperate dream, when you and I know what kind of missions we did in the ANBU black ops. If the other villages ever knew, then the Leaf would be the most hated village in the world."

"Sometimes to achieve peace, sacrifices must be made. We knew that," said Shintaro.

"No, wrong," said Iwao. "A peace gained through deception is a delusion. The Leaf Village doesn't know the suffering we place on other villages every time we finish a mission. You knew that, deep down, didn't you? That's why you left the ANBU the first chance you got after I did."

"Except I did my best to help the village afterwards, by doing the missions my way," said Shintaro. "You gave up on us."

"I gave up on a hopeless vision!" yelled Iwao. "So I went for the next best thing; if all of the five ninja villages are equal in power, then they will cancel each other out. My team will assassinate key village members to make sure that happens. And when the time is right, we will instigate a war that will last for decades with neither side overpowering the other, until the villages tear each other apart! And finally, when the smoke clears, when the dust settles, there will be no one left to fight. There will only be peace."

"At what cost, Iwao?" asked Shintaro, gritting his teeth at the strain of pushing against his sword.

"You said it yourself, Shintaro," said Iwao. "To achieve peace, sacrifices must be made. Well, I will make them. I will gladly take all of the blame! But the Leaf Village is responsible for more atrocities than I, and so it is the Leaf Village that I will start with, by delivering the Byakugan to the Cloud Village!"

The two broke away, fatigued by their battle. "You'll have to get through me first. It's a lot harder when your opponent isn't disabled by nemuri, isn't it, Iwao?" asked Shintaro.

"Are you implying that I'm out of practice?" sneered Iwao.

"Not really," replied Shintaro. "But, you could be better."

"Hah!" Iwao spat, tightening his grip on his blade. "I've already told you that I'm better than you, Shintaro! Did you think I spent all those years sniveling in some bush? I've been honing my skills, improving them! And this is the result of my work!"

Angling his blade to the side, Iwao cried "Shiden!"

In an instant, a large gash appeared up and down Shintaro's chest, splattering blood from the floor to the ceiling.

_"What was that?"_ wondered Hanabi, her mouth open in disbelief. _"That attack was so fast, even my Byakugan couldn't follow it!"_

Staggering backwards from the pain, Shintaro had to support himself against the wall. "You… you've learned Shiden?"

With an evil grin, Iwao replied "Yes, Shiden. I taught myself this technique during my time away from the Leaf Village. And what have you done since then? You've been the village's errand boy for table scraps!"

"It's not about money, or power," said Shintaro. "That's something you never understood. That's why you don't deserve to know that technique."

"Oh, I don't deserve to know this technique you say?" said Iwao, a ghost of a laugh on his face. "This technique requires the opponent to be in complete view, which means out of the two of us, I'm the only one qualified to know this technique. And now, I shall use it to beat you again!"

"Now then," Iwao continued, "I do want to take you in alive, so I will keep wearing you down until you surrender. What do you think of that?"

"Until I surrender, eh?" said Shintaro. "That's too bad then, because I would rather die than surrender to you, Iwao!"

And the two resumed their battle, their swords becoming silver blurs.

* * *

Hanabi deactivated her Byakugan, biting her lip.

"What is it Hanabi-chan? Is it bad?" asked Kaji.

She wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted so badly to help her sensei. But her promise to Shintaro echoed in her head. Her heart sinking inside, Hanabi said "Come on Kaji; we've got to get Wasumaru-san and make our way back to the Leaf Village."

"And Shintaro-sensei's coming with us, right?" Kaji pressed, eyes pleading.

Thinking for a moment, Hanabi replied "Yeah…yes, he said he'll meet us back at the gates."

"Alright then," said Kaji, unsure. "Well, we'd best not waste any time here. Let's go!"

Kaji ran towards the entrance with Hanabi following closely behind. The two unbarred the front doors and stepped through. The whole crowd was still there, cheering as they saw the two Leaf Village ninja on the top steps. Wasumaru was still drawing in front of them, completely oblivious to everything around him.

"Hey Wasumaru-san, I see you took out all of the guards," said Kaji. Spotting Ijimeki, face contorted into madness, he stared in awe. "Whoa, what didja do to him?"

"Kaji-san, Hanabi-san!" cried Minori as she made her way to the front of the crowd with her mother in tow. "You two are alright!"

"Yeah, more or less," said Kaji, scratching the back of his head.

"What's the plan now?" asked Minori.

"I guess we're going back to the Leaf Village for reinforcements," Kaji replied, still unsure.

"But where's your sensei?" asked Akane.

"Well, we left him on the top floor. He's fighting Iwao, at least he was, last I knew," said Kaji.

"…Yeah," muttered Hanabi. _"I promised him I wouldn't, but, I shouldn't just walk away from this…"_ she thought. The Kensugi brothers were taken out, Kandegawa's plan was virtually foiled, and Iwao would not be able to deliver the Byakugan to the Cloud Village. There was nothing left for a genin to do; let Shintaro try and defeat Iwao on his own. If Iwao escapes, then there will be another day. If she left now, she would be able to hand the task of capturing Iwao to better, more experienced ninjas.

If she left now, she would be a coward…

Kaji shrugged his shoulders and said "Well anyway, I guess we'd better hurry if we're gonna- Where are ya goin' Hanabi-chan?"

For Hanabi had sprinted back up the steps and into the castle. _"Kaji and Wasumaru don't need to come along; this is my decision,"_ she thought firmly. Acting quickly, she shut the door and barred it, locking Kaji and Wasumaru outside.

Kaji stood flabbergasted for a moment before yelling "I knew everything wasn't okay! Wasumaru-san, you stay here with Minori-chan."

Wasumaru was still trying to finish his drawing, and seemed to be content with this.

"I'm going too," said Minori, taking out her slingshot.

"No, you get everyone back," said Kaji. "I've got a plan."

Kaji set off for the castle. As he went up the steps, Minori could hear him mutter "I can't believe she did that to us…"

* * *

Shintaro kept pressing his attack, narrowly avoiding counterattacks from Iwao by inches. Iwao was giving ground, but he was not being threatened; he easily blocked away all of his opponent's strikes and was content on letting Shintaro tire out.

"So aggressive," said Iwao, blocking a forward slash. "This is a side of you I haven't seen before."

_"I don't have a choice. I must keep him moving,"_ thought Shintaro as he kept attacking. _"Shiden only works if you have full concentration. I can't give him that."_

Sparks flying from the impact of their blades, Shintaro's relentless torrent of attacks finally pushed Iwao against a wall. _"Now!"_ thought Shintaro as he delivered a forward thrust aimed for Iwao's chest.

But Iwao said "Too easy," and parried the thrust aside, letting Shintaro's sword impale the wall. Pushing his own blade against Shintaro's as a guide, Iwao landed a shoulder tackle that separated Shintaro's grip from his sword. He followed through with a vicious blow to Shintaro's own shoulder, sending him sprawling away clutching his bleeding arm.

Pointing his sword at Shintaro, Iwao said "As I said before, I'm better than you. Now, you can surrender now, or I can cut little pieces off of you until you do. So, which is it going to be?"

"I gave you my answer already," said Shintaro. "But here's a reminder…"

And he flung two shuriken at Iwao, who easily dodged them. Taking advantage of the distraction, Shintaro tried to come at the side of Iwao, but he was cut down again with a blow to his other shoulder.

"I admire your bravery, at the very least," said Iwao, readying another strike. "But you've failed. You sent your genin to fight the Kensugi's, a team which I handpicked personally. By now, the Hyuga has been captured again, and the other two dead. And you are like a helpless grub before a hawk. I will take you in alive, but only just. And I will enjoy every, single, cut."

He leaped forward, prepared to deliver a crippling slash to Shintaro's legs, when he heard movement from the hallway. Looking up, he barely swiped away a shuriken with his sword as Hanabi stepped into the room, face determined.

"You?" said Iwao, completely surprised.

"Yeah, me," replied Hanabi, shifting to her defensive stance.

"No! Hanabi-chan, what are you doing here?" asked Shintaro, as surprised as Iwao at Hanabi's appearance.

"Helping you, Shintaro-sensei," said Hanabi, not taking her eyes off of Iwao.

"Hanabi-chan, you promised me," said Shintaro, worry in his voice.

"I know, but I couldn't just leave you behind," she said. "Kaji-san and Wasumaru-san should be okay; I don't think we'll be hearing from the Kensugi's for a long time."

"How very touching," growled Iwao. "So you've beaten my men, and now you aim to rescue your precious sensei." As he turned his sword toward Hanabi, he said "All you have done is fly back into my cage. It looks like I'll be able to claim both of my bounties after all."

Hanabi stared at Iwao, unwavering. "Don't get too excited; I'm going to make sure that you don't claim anything. Ever."

"Hmm, bold words for one so young," said Iwao. "You intend to fight me by yourself."

"Well, she's not; I'm going to help her," said Shintaro as he got back to his feet with two kunai in his hands, trying to ignore the pain in his shoulders and chest.

"Thanks sensei," said Hanabi.

Shintaro moved next to her. "Follow my lead. Stay alert. Don't let your guard down."

"Yeah," she replied.

"Well then," said Iwao impatiently, "this should be quick…"

He disappeared in a flash, nearly too quick for the human eye. Hanabi was barely able to react to Iwao's forward strike, but she managed to twirl to the side. Shintaro was there to hoId down Iwao's sword with a kunai, forcing Iwao to pull back to avoid a swipe from Hanabi, coming out of her twirl.

Shintaro gave Iwao no time to recover as he stepped forward leading with both of his kunai to block Iwao's katana. Trying to regain his balance, Iwao grunted as Hanabi came in from the side, and snatched her arm. He immediately let go when Shintaro sliced into his sword arm with one of the kunai, causing Iwao to back away against the wall, blood trickling from his elbow.

"Grr, impressive," said Iwao, blocking Shintaro's forward movement again with his sword as sparks flew from the impact.

"Glad you think so," replied Shintaro.

Iwao's look turned to surprise when Hanabi emerged from underneath her sensei's legs to attack his own. Jumping to move his feet into an unusual stance, Iwao looked back up for about a split second before a spin kick from Shintaro caught him against his cheek, sending him rolling away.

Kneeling on the floor, shaking out the bells in his head, Iwao looked up to see Shintaro pull his katana from out of the wall.

"Should be easier to fight you with this, I think," said Shintaro casually, bringing his sword into an attack stance.

Scoffing, Iwao got back to his feet, wiping away a trickle of blood out of the corner of his mouth. "You think you have the upper hand, Shintaro? Just because you have me outnumbered? You're not as good as me, and she's just a genin."

"I'm not just any genin," said Hanabi, regaining her stance. "I'm the heiress to the Hyuga clan, and you've done a good job at underestimating me."

"Hmph, clearly," said Iwao. "Well, in that case, it looks like I'll have to get serious."

He disappeared from his spot. Gasping in surprise, Hanabi barely had time to turn as Iwao aimed to disable her. But Shintaro was already there, blocking his strike. Hanabi tried to capitalize by moving in, but by then, Iwao had moved to the side.

"Stay behind me," said Shintaro as he deflected another strike.

It was a stalemate; Iwao would move to try and catch the two off guard, but Shintaro would always be there to block him, keeping Hanabi safe. And when Hanabi tried to strike past Shintaro underneath Iwao's guard, he would move away, seemingly one step ahead.

"_He's so fast,"_ thought Hanabi, frustrated.

"I won't let you lay a hand on my students, Iwao," said Shintaro, swiping another attack away.

"You won't be able to stop me," said Iwao.

And he swung his sword to deflect Shintaro's away, and used his momentum to deliver a spinning back kick to his jaw. Hanabi ducked under Shintaro as he sailed backwards over her. When she looked up, she had to move to the side to avoid a downward slash from Iwao.

"You're mine now!" said Iwao as he struck furiously, increasing the frequency of his attacks against the unarmed genin.

* * *

Minori and Akane managed to get the village back a safe distance. Only Wasumaru stayed behind to continue his drawing.

Smoke started to emanate from the castle, causing Minori to worry. She rushed over to Wasumaru and said "Hey, Wasumaru-san, don't you think you should come back here with the rest of us?"

Not looking up from his drawing of the entire castle, he muttered "I'm not finished yet…"

"Well, okay, if you're sure…" said Minori, concerned. She ran back towards the crowd as the castle continued to slowly burn from the inside.

* * *

Hanabi tried to dip and dive around Iwao, but the attacks were just too much. Compared to him, Hayaku's strikes were sluggish; there was no counterattacking against this.

"Aaah!" she cried as she received several cuts to her arms and legs, still backing up.

Iwao stopped swinging his sword only for a moment to deliver a backhand to Hanabi, dropping her to the floor.

"One down," said Iwao as he aimed for Hanabi's legs with his sword.

Iwao was so intent on crippling Hanabi that he did not see the smoke bomb that bounced into the room. The tiny ball detonated, filling most of the room with thick smoke.

"What the," growled Iwao, jumping out of the murk and blocking a strike from a recovered Shintaro.

Jumping out of the black cloud, Hanabi turned to the hallway to see who had thrown the smoke bomb. "Kaji!"

Kaji ran into the room, visibly irritated. "Do ya know how hard it is to disable a trap someone's set on the inside, from the outside? Jeez!"

"Kaji, I promised sense-"

"Well I didn't promise anything!" said Kaji. "We're a team, aren't we? Let's act like it!"

Shintaro and Hanabi were both surprised to hear talk of teamwork coming from Kaji. However, Hanabi nodded and said "Yeah, let's do it."

As Shintaro and Iwao broke away, Shintaro smiled. "This is what makes me better than you Iwao, something you never understood."

"Oh really? What is that?" asked Iwao sarcastically.

"You only think of yourself, and the men you hire only think for themselves. That's not a team. I have teammates who would die for me, like I would for them. Together, we are better than you."

"Hmph, well you're right about one thing," said Iwao in a deadly quiet voice. "That one," and he pointed to Kaji, "will die. Right now!"

Hanabi's eyes widened as she saw the shift in Iwao's ankles, and she was already on the move.

With unparalleled speed, Iwao appeared in front of Kaji, ready to impale him. However, he had to break off the attack when Hanabi stepped in from behind to strike his back. Now out of Hanabi's range, Iwao had to contend with Shintaro again.

"Yeesh, close one," said Kaji relieved.

"You're lucky I could tell he was coming for you," said Hanabi. "Come on."

Their blades clashing through the air, Shintaro kept trying to apply pressure to Iwao, driving him back. Clashing in the center of the room, Iwao said "Your kids are becoming quite the nuisance. I was going to finish the other two quickly, but now I've decided that after I capture you and the Hyuga, I'm going to kill them nice and slowly in front of you."

"There you go again," said Shintaro, smirking. "You're already counting my genin out when they still have so much more to give."

Shintaro shoved Iwao backwards, and Iwao felt something catch the back of his knee. "A ninja wire?" he growled as he fell back. He managed to get a hand to the ground to spring off, and as he pushed away, he glimpsed the kunai imbedded into the wall which tethered the wire; Kaji was on the other end, both hands pulling the wire taut.

When he landed, Iwao could sense Hanabi waiting for him. She thrust her palm forward, aiming for Iwao's heart. Gritting his teeth, Iwao managed to turn to the side and received a glancing blow to his ribs for his efforts. Letting out an angry gasp, he used his longer limbs to deliver a strong kick that caught Hanabi underneath her outstretched arm.

The force of the blow sent Hanabi flying back towards the wall. Unfortunately, she landed hard against a wooden support, cracking the beam and causing her to cry out in pain as all the wind was knocked out of her. Hanabi tried to pull herself up, but she fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Hanabi-chan!" cried Kaji as he pulled the kunai away from the wall. "You'll pay for that!" As Shintaro tried to hold off Iwao again, Kaji was using the momentum of the kunai to whip it around himself, building up energy.

"There goes your best student, Shintaro," Iwao sneered, ignoring the pain in his side as he fended off attack after attack.

"You still have a long way to go, Iwao," said Shintaro.

Blocking another attack from Shintaro, Iwao sensed Kaji hurling the kunai at him at an impossibly fast velocity. Not able to avoid it, he craned his head and yelled in anger as the kunai left a deep scratch on his cheek. Shintaro took advantage by delivering an overhead strike, cutting through the ninja wire to get to Iwao.

Iwao barely got his sword up to stop Shintaro's blade from slicing through his shoulder, but not before receiving a gash about a centimeter deep.

"Enough of this!" Iwao growled as he used all of his force to push the blade off of his shoulder. As Shintaro stepped back, Kaji threw the kunai attached to the other end of the wire in his hand. However, in the same motion, Iwao deflected the kunai towards Shintaro's chest.

Shintaro barely caught the kunai with his offhand, but Iwao delivered a spinning side kick to his hand, forcing the knife to pierce through his armor, into his chest. Wincing in pain, Shintaro was immediately caught with a follow up kick to his jaw, launching him backwards to the floor.

Kaji surveyed the scene; Hanabi was still against the wall, trying to stir, Shintaro was nearly knocked out by the last blow, and Iwao, albeit sporting many cuts on his body, seemed to be completely unaffected. "It's up to me then, is it?" said Kaji to himself. He took out a shuriken and a smoke bomb, but Iwao was in his face before he could throw them.

"I said enough," said Iwao as he gave Kaji a hard forearm to his face, forcing him to drop his tools. Iwao then flashed his sword, and Kaji gritted his teeth and backed away as he was cut deeply on his thigh, his arms, and across his chest, blood spraying the floor.

Angling his blade towards a panting Kaji, Iwao bore a hint of a malicious grin as he said "Time to take you out, I think."

"No!" cried Shintaro, trying to get to his feet.

Shifting his stance, Iwao cried "Shiden!"

"Ghn!" Kaji grunted as he brought up his arms to guard. But the attack never came; a blur moved in front of him. When he lowered his arms, Kaji realized in horror that it was Hanabi in her defensive stance, breathing heavily. Blood was pouring from a deep cut across her chest. He could see a small needle of chakra fade from Hanabi's attacking hand as she tiredly lowered her arms.

"Hanabi-chan…" said Kaji, shocked.

"I…saw that one too…" Hanabi said weakly, sinking to her knees.

"Aah!" cried Iwao, dropping his sword. "Im-impossible!" he gasped, clutching his right arm, now limp. "You, you hit me during Shiden?"

"The second time…was easier," said Hanabi, a satisfied smile on her face. "That move…isn't instantaneous…barely saw it…with my Byakugan," and she slumped to the floor, breathing scarcely.

_"Amazing,"_ thought Shintaro, _"She was moving before he tried to use Shiden on Kaji-san. She also managed to sever a chakra vein in Iwao's arm, even though there was only a split-second window. He won't be able to use that arm for weeks."_

"No…" Iwao growled. Picking up his sword with his offhand, Iwao turned to the two genin and said "I'll crush you both!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Shintaro, pulling out the kunai in his chest. Stepping forward with his katana, Shintaro easily swiped away Iwao's sword with a two-handed attack.

His weapon gone, clattering across the floor, Iwao jumped back to avoid a strike to his midsection. "You annoying pests!" he roared in frustration.

"Give up, Iwao," said Shintaro. "You've got no weapons, no allies, and no hope."

"You're…you're right," said Iwao, defeated. "Tch, how pathetic…losing to you and three kids…"

"They're not just kids," said Shintaro, "they're Leaf Village ninja, and they will grow up to become the future."

"You better hope they do," said Iwao, "because mark my words; I will kill them in the end, and then I'll kill you. Good bye, my former comrade."

And before anyone could stop him, Iwao turned away from Shintaro and Kaji and leaped feet-first for the nearest window, breaking through the boards and sailing towards the forest. In an instant, the seals all around the windows activated and the walls lit up in flames, preventing Shintaro from pursuing him.

But Shintaro was not thinking about going after Iwao. Instead, he rushed towards Kaji, who was at Hanabi's side. Hanabi had not moved since she took Iwao's brutal attack.

"Hanabi-chan!" yelled Kaji as he turned her over, supporting her head and back with his arms. "C'mon, don't you die, damnit! It's no fun without you!" he pleaded.

"I'm…not dying…you idiot," said Hanabi, slowly opening her eyes. "Jeez Kaji…why did you have to leave yourself open like that?"

Grinning with relief, Kaji replied "Hey, I can take care of myself, huh? You didn't have to do that…"

"She's very fortunate," said Shintaro. "Shiden isn't meant to deliver a killing blow. The move allows the user to quickly step in, attack, and step out. Reach is sacrificed for incredible speed; the cut is deep enough to incapacitate, but not enough to hit any vital organs. It requires a lot of focus, and as soon as Hanabi-chan got in the way, she became the new target."

"Yeah, lucky me," said Hanabi, smiling painfully as she covered her wound with her arms.

"Yeah," said Kaji. "We should probably get out of here, since the place is burning and…and…"

His eyes widened as he remembered something. "Ahh! Sensei, we have to go now!"

"Why? What's wrong Kaji-san?" asked Shintaro, lifting Hanabi into his arms.

With what little chakra she had left, Hanabi activated her Byakugan. "What the hell, Kaji! How many paper bombs did you plant?"

"Uhh…all of them, I think…" said Kaji sheepishly. "It was a backup plan, y'know, in case Iwao tried to escape through the castle…"

"Yeah, too bad you didn't get the top floor windows, huh?" asked Hanabi dryly.

The roof creaked under the strain of the now weakening supports as the fire spread quickly. "No time to contemplate it now," said Shintaro. "Let's move!"

The three raced down the hallway with Shintaro still carrying Hanabi. When they reached the window, Kaji said "Wait, no, not that way; I've already planted ten there from before…"

"Kaji, did you leave us any escape routes?" asked Hanabi, now very concerned.

"Yeah, I know I must have…" said Kaji, twiddling his thumbs. "Wait, yeah! Third floor, hurry!"

They raced down the stairs, through the burning building until they came upon the balcony. Through the rising smoke, the three were about to jump down to the lower level when they saw someone at the top of the grand staircase below. "Kandegawa," growled Kaji.

The feudal lord was overloaded with several bags and suitcases, coins and bills spilling out from some of them. At the sound of Kaji's voice, he turned to look up at them. "So, Iwao-san didn't finish the job, eh?" said Kandegawa, a nervous, ironic smile on his face. "Figures, you Leaf Village ninja, so dependable…willing to risk your lives for your missions…well, I can't say I have the same commitment!"

"We aren't going to kill you, Kandegawa," said Shintaro, disgusted. "We wouldn't lower ourselves to killing such a worthless coward who feeds off of the hard work of others."

"You think I got here without doing any hard work?" said Kandegawa, trying to scoop up stray bills. "It wasn't easy slipping poison into Lord Hajishime's tea, and paying off the right people so I could take his place, and making extra money by selling ninja tools on the black market… I'm going to miss delivering a shipment in fact. There are going to be a lot of angry buyers coming here soon to tear this dried-up village apart, but I'll be long gone before then. Farewell!"

And he turned to the closed shoji door leading into the dining hall, placing his hand on the handle.

"No, don't!" yelled Kaji.

But Kandegawa either did not hear him or did not care as he opened the door and dragged his bags inside.

Kaji, Hanabi, and Shintaro exchanged glances. Acting quickly, Kaji jammed the kunai with the wire still attached to the floor. Not missing a step, Shintaro snagged the end of the wire as Hanabi wrapped her arms behind his neck. Kaji held the knife down, anchoring the line as Shintaro vaulted over the railing. Right as Shintaro and Hanabi swung to the next balcony below, Kaji jumped down, caught the railing with his hands, and hauled himself over.

"The window straight ahead!" said Hanabi as they heard the faint screams of Kandegawa behind them.

The three leaped out of the window as a series of explosions went off within the castle. Shintaro and Kaji landed in front of the crowd at a safe distance from the front gates with Hanabi in Shintaro's arms.

The team watched as the castle seemed to collapse in on itself, creating a chain reaction that set off an even larger series of explosions from within. Heavy debris was sent flying through the air, causing the team and the crowd to back away.

"Wasumaru-san!" yelled Shintaro, as the quiet boy was still sitting in front of the castle steps, putting the finishing touches on his drawing. Not looking up from his spot, Wasumaru seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that all manner of beams, tiles, and stones were landing all around him while he put the last stroke on the canvas. Despite the deadly hail striking very close to him, Wasumaru calmly picked up his completed drawing, right before a large sharp splinter imbedded itself where it sat, and he walked back towards the rest of his team completely unharmed.

Kaji, Hanabi, and Shintaro stood in awe at what was left of Houseki castle, now in fiery ruins. For a moment there was silence, save for the crackling of the fire and the subtle strokes of Wasumaru's pen on a new piece of paper.

Finally, Kaji said hesitantly "It…it seemed like a good trap to me…I mean, a few bombs at the supports…and the room above it was already on fire…and then a few bombs on the way up…do you think Kandegawa's alright?"

Still staring at the wreckage, Hanabi and Shintaro collectively shook their heads.

"Yeah…me neither," said Kaji. Motioning to the crowd behind them with a thumb, Kaji then asked "So, uh…you think they're mad at us?"

Slowly, the team turned around, and was met with a deafening roar of applause as all of the villagers showed their gratitude at finally being freed of their oppressor.

"No," said Shintaro to Kaji, who was beaming with Hanabi, "I don't suppose they are," as Minori and Akane broke through the crowd to greet them.

"Thank you so much," said Akane, Minori at her side. "We don't know what we would've done without you."

Smiling, Shintaro said "So you came with everyone else, even though you were under house arrest? I think you're more like your daughter than you believe."

Seeing the many wounds on the three ninja, Minori asked "Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, for the most part…" said Hanabi, still clutching her chest.

"Better than Ijimeki, probably," said Kaji, glancing at the decrepit man with a face that personified pain.

"We do have a doctor in the village," said Akane. "It's not much, but we'll move him there until he gets better. I won't keep my hopes up though. Anyway, you three really should stay there for the night."

"We will be fine," assured Shintaro. "We just need to be bandaged up and then we'll head back to the village."

"So soon?" asked Minori, disappointment in her voice.

"Unfortunately," replied Shintaro. "We need to report back to the Leaf Village as quick as we can; Iwao's still alive, and this village needs protection from Kandegawa's buyers."

"I see," said Akane. "Well, this village hasn't aligned itself with a ninja village before, but I think that may change."

"Yes, I'll send someone to escort a food caravan here, and protect the village, and even rebuild the castle and refurbish all of your houses in an instant, no charge," said Shintaro.

Both Minori's and Akane's eyes widened as Akane asked "Really? One man can do all of that? And you won't charge us a thing?"

"Well, I think most of the village funds and resources were lost in that fire, so it's the least we could do." said Shintaro. "I still have a few contacts in the ANBU. I'm sure Tenzō won't object to doing this."

"Oh, thank you," said Akane. "I suppose, this is good bye then."

"Until the next time," said Shintaro, bowing.

"Thank you, Hanabi-san," said Minori, shaking her hand.

"It's been a pleasure," smiled Hanabi.

"Thank you, Kaji-san, for saving my life," said Minori, and she kissed him on the cheek.

Blushing, Kaji said "Aww, it was nothing really…"

Slightly embarrassed herself, Minori let out a soft giggle before feeling a light tug on her sleeve. "Hmm? Wasumaru-san?"

Staring at Minori with his depthless eyes, Wasumaru had a drawing in his hand. With the smallest hint of a smile, he offered it to her. Minori took the drawing carefully into her hands, and saw that it was from this morning; Shintaro, Hanabi, Kaji, her mother, and Minori herself were all in the drawing. And even though they had practically been renegades in a hostile country when Wasumaru drew it, they looked like friends and family in the picture with the homely candles and the stove pot boiling in the kitchen.

"Wow…thank you, Wasumaru-san," said Minori, looking at the quiet, stoic boy. "Y'know, I've never been able to figure you out…but I'll be sure to hang this in my bedroom, alright?"

With a small nod, Wasumaru went back to his sketch pad.

Smiling at his students, Shintaro said "Well, we'd best be off. Team Three: let's move out."

"Yes sensei," replied Kaji and Hanabi. Wasumaru stayed silent as the team turned towards the crowd and made their way through.

"Come see us again sometime!" yelled Minori as the four ninja faded from view.

* * *

Night had fallen, yet Team Three were still running down the road. Her chest now bandaged, Hanabi had enough strength to walk on her own so Shintaro could carry Wasumaru on his back. For once, Wasumaru did not have his art supplies out; they were simply travelling too fast for him to get a good sketch of anything.

Kaji was still in high spirits, a grin on his face. Hanabi noticed this, also smiling. "So, I guess you made a new friend, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kaji replied, "I can't say the same when I first met her, but now, I guess I kinda like her."

"Knowing you, you'll probably forget her in a week," teased Hanabi.

"Nah, are you crazy? I'll never forget this mission as long as I live!" said Kaji, pumping his fists into the air. "We kicked butt! Those three losers were no match for us! And we freed a lot of people from a slimy, money-grubbing feudal lord! Yep, I'd say this mission is,"

"A failure," said Shintaro.

The whole team stopped as Kaji stared at Shintaro in disbelief. "No way! What, who, wha? What did we do wrong?"

With an ironic smile, Shintaro asked his team "Can anyone tell me what our original mission was?"

Hanabi, smile long since faded from her face, sighed and said "We were supposed to protect the daimyo."

"Wha- what? Protect Kandegawa?" stammered Kaji, mouth gaping open.

"Yes, and not only did we fail in doing that, but you were also partially responsible for his death, Kaji-san," said Shintaro.

Perplexed, Kaji said "But, but, that jerk tried to capture us! He kidnapped Minori-chan, he stole from the village, I just don't get it! I mean, I don't believe this! I busted my butt only to find out that it was all for nothing and, and…and I think it wore off…"

And Kaji fell face-first into the dirt. "Oh…now I'm hurting all over…" he mumbled as Wasumaru immediately took out his pad and began sketching him.

Hanabi sighed and said "Well, I guess I'd better carry him back." As she hoisted Kaji onto her shoulders, she thought _"What a mission this turned out to be,"_ as the team resumed their trek back to Konohagakure.

* * *

Ninja Training Academy

(Hanabi and Kaji stand next to a large monitor in a classroom. Wasumaru is drawing on the other side of the monitor)

Hanabi: Today, we're going to learn about the three legendary Sannin. The Sannin got their title from the former leader of Amegakure, Hanzō of the Salamander, after they became the only ninja to survive a battle with him. All three of them were taught by none other than the Third Hokage.

Kaji: In other words, they were complete badasses!

(The monitor shows Jiraiya on top of Gamabunta)

Kaji: This is Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. He uses his toad summons in battle, like Gamabunta, to crush his opponents. Aside from that, he's also a master of ninjutsu, and can break genjutsus with ease. He's no slouch in taijutsu either, making him a well-rounded ninja. He's like what I wanna be…although I hear he's a bit of a perv…

(The monitor shows Tsunade at her desk)

Hanabi: This is Tsunade, the Slug Princess, so named for her summon, Katsuyu. Currently, she's the Fifth Hokage. She's well known for being the best medical nin in the entire world, with taijutsu skills to match. Beautiful, strong, and talented, she's an inspiration to kunoichi everywhere. Oh, and she's probably also known for her growing gambling debts…"

(The monitor shows a close-up of Orochimaru)

Kaji: Jeez, this guy looks scary. Anyway, this is Orochimaru. Former Leaf Village ninja, former Akatsuki member, founder of Otogakure, a village filled with his own personal henchmen. Pfft, more like a village filled with losers if you ask me…

Hanabi: He wishes to learn every jutsu in the world; a daunting task, but he already knows so many dangerous techniques, not the least of which includes raising ninjas from the dead to fight for him. And he also performs experiments on his villagers to give them other unknown abilities.

Kaji: Man! His jutsu, his flunkies, even his face are all creepy! Wait a minute…that pale skin, that chilly demeanor…Wasumaru, he could be your dad!

Wasumaru: …Maybe he is…

Hanabi/Kaji: *looks at Wasumaru* WHAT?

*silence*

Wasumaru: …Or maybe not…

Hanabi/Kaji: DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT!

* * *

Note from the Author: Origin of Wasumaru

Wasumaru was my second pick for the three-genin team in this fic. He was actually a character that I roleplayed in a Naruto d20 campaign. If you like the way Wasumaru acts, then you can guess how much fun I had playing him. Originally, I had planned for him to have a perpetual Cheshire cat smile, but that was scrapped because I figured it would be too creepy, even for me, so I roleplayed him as a mostly silent, eccentric artist. My party members liked the character for his weird tendencies and his unusual abilities.

His art style would have originally included more abstract pieces, but I scrapped that too, and went for realistic landscapes and portraits. Having him draw exactly what he sees with excruciating detail also made for interesting genjutsu ideas. Speaking of which, Naruto doesn't have too many important characters that use genjutsu, so I had Wasumaru be a genjutsu specialist from the start. For such a stoic character, genjutsu fits him like a glove, and since Hanabi's a taijutsuist and Kaji's a ninjutsuist, Wasumaru's talent of genjutsu makes him a welcome addition to the team. I hope you continue to enjoy his many quirks and his strange behavior as he paints his way to victory.

* * *

A/N: Alright, that's the end of this first arc. Now, depending on how much support I have, I may continue this fic; I've still got so many ideas for Team Three, and we haven't even explored the back-stories behind them. I really do want to continue, but more reviews would motivate me a lot more.

If not a lot of people want to see any more, then we say goodbye for now.

However, if enough people want to see what happens next, then I really will try and get the next chapter out in two weeks. No special preview, but I will say this; the Chunin exams are coming, and this time, there's no forest of death.

Until next time!

Peace out!


	11. The Next Step: The Road to Chunin!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 11: The Next Step: The Road to Chunin!

Hanabi was lying on her back, staring up at the clouds, completely relaxed on a warm, sunny day. Arms crossed behind her head, she was in her favorite spot in the whole village; the secluded tranquility in the center of the training grounds. As she enjoyed a calm, sweet breeze while a flock of birds flew overhead, she took a well deserved rest, pondering what Shintaro-sensei wanted today.

A month had passed since their mission in the Land of Petals, and since then, Hanabi had completed many other tasks with her team. Despite the fact that the majority of their missions were C-rank, none of them came close to that mission, and all of the escorts and menial jobs felt routine. After finishing a small mission yesterday however, Shintaro told the team to meet him at the training grounds at noon instead of at the Hokage tower.

And so, there she was by herself. Wasumaru, she knew, was drawing in peace at the entrance as usual. She also knew that she was close enough to the entrance for her Sensei to see her, and Kaji of course was nowhere to be found. Closing her eyes to immerse herself in the sounds of the morning, she took advantage of her sensei's apparent lateness to take a short break.

Taking a deep breath, Hanabi said to herself "I certainly don't get many days like this."

* * *

Lady Tsunade sat at her desk in front of a group of jonin teachers in a small meeting hall. Shizune was next to her, carrying Tonton in her arms.

The Hokage addressed the Jonin. "Alright, so everyone here knows that the chunin exams are coming in just a week. This year, they're going to take place in the Hidden Sand Village. You all know the drill; the Kazekage will have to know who's going in advance so they know who to make the permission passes out to."

"Might as well start with the new teachers," said Tsunade, crossing her arms over her chest. When only two jonin stepped forward, Tsunade looked around the room and sighed. "I see that Shintaro-san's late, so I guess I'll start with you two. Mayumi-san and Hitoshi-san; are there any genin you would like to enter into the exam?"

Mayumi, a young woman with short, dark blue hair, replied "Team Mayumi led Reiko Yakusabe, Hirosho Nakagare, and Madoka Hayashi. I, Mayumi Ando, nominate all three to take the chunin exam."

Hitoshi, an older man with long, brown hair in a ponytail, also replied "Team Hitoshi led Dai Kotoshiba, Kisho Takanabe, and Sayoko Tomari. I, Hitoshi Nomura, nominate all three as well."

Tsunade was about to speak, but was stopped when the door at the front of the hall opened with a small creak, turning the heads of all of the jonin. Arms outstretched, Shintaro stumbled into the room and said "Sorry for being late. I can't help but wonder if the streets change every night…"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Tsunade said "Shintaro-san, so glad you could make it; I was about to move on to the rest of the jonin here without you."

"Oh, that would've been a pity," said Shintaro as he carefully made his way to the front beside Hitoshi and Mayumi. "Because then I wouldn't be able to nominate my own team for the chunin exams. Ahem, I, Shintaro Misumi, nominate Kaji Sogeki, Wasumaru Zakuūsho, and Hanabi Hyuga to take the chunin exams."

Iruka, standing among the jonin, thought to himself _"So soon, huh? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."_ His thoughts shifted to Team Kakashi, and how he had nominated Naruto to take the chunin exams at the first opportunity. Although he didn't pass, the chunin exams pushed him to become a better ninja. Aloud, Iruka asked "You sure they're ready, Shintaro-san? I know Kaji-san can be a handful."

Smiling, Shintaro replied "Oh, I'm sure they are quite capable. How is the Land of Petals by the way?"

Scoffing, Tsunade said "Funny how you bring up a mission your team had failed." However, she conceded and said "Their village is better than ever, and although we initially lost resources trying to rebuild it, we've gained a valuable trading post. Of course, that's not why we're gathered here."

"Sorry, Lady Hokage," said Shintaro. "As I was saying, Kaji-san's proven that he has skill, and Wasumaru-san has never had so much as a scratch during our missions. And Hanabi-chan's also progressing very well. In any case, I feel that Kaji-san would be most displeased if he ever found out that I passed on this opportunity."

"Well, I suppose that's that then, isn't it?" said Tsunade, a wry smile on her face. "So, all of the new genin will partake in the chunin exams."

Writing down the list of names in front of her, Tsunade said "Now that we've gotten the new genin out of the way, are there any other jonin that would like to enter their students as well?"

Two jonin stepped forward. One was woman with long black hair, red eyes, and wearing a white dress over a red mesh blouse. The other was a taller man in the standard ninja outfit with short, spiked black hair and brown eyes, and a cigarette in his mouth.

The kunoichi spoke first. "Team Kurenai led Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. I, Kurenai Yūhi, also nominate all three."

"Ah," said Shintaro, "so Hanabi-chan's sister will be taking the exam along with her?"

"It appears so," replied Kurenai, glancing at Shintaro. "Should we tell them?"

"Well, I don't see the fun in that. 'A ninja must expect the unexpected' after all. Besides, they'll find out soon enough," he said.

"Alright then," said Kurenai, eyes closed with a small intrigued smile on her lips.

"Can we move this along please?" asked Tsunade, slightly irritated. "Asuma-san; I assume you wanted to go next? And I'd prefer if you not smoke in here."

"Apologies, Lady Hokage," said Asuma, although he did not take the cigarette out of his mouth. "Team Asuma led Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi. I, Asuma Sarutobi, nominate both for the Chunin exam. Of course," and Asuma grinned, "since Shikamaru-san already passed the test, Ino-san and Choji-san will be down a member."

Tsunade nodded and said "Since the rules state that only a team of three genin may enter the exam, I will provide the third member of Team Asuma." Smiling, she then said "And I have just the one; I believe she's ready now."

"I saw that coming," said Asuma, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Ino-san will be thrilled…"

"I'm sure they can put their differences aside to work together," said Tsunade, writing the names down. "Besides, Sakura-san will be an invaluable member to your team. I'll make sure of it."

"Truth be told, I'm kinda looking forward to this myself," said Asuma, grinning.

Straightening out her papers, Tsunade said "So, are there any other jonin that wou- leaving us so soon, Shintaro-san?"

For Shintaro was already walking out of the room. "Oh, yes. My apologies Lady Hogake, but I did promise my students that I would meet them and you know how long I take to move through the village. Anyway, I'm no longer needed for this meeting." Fumbling for the handle, he opened the door and closed it behind him.

* * *

"Late again," Hanabi muttered aloud as she practiced her many forms, her Byakugan active. The sun was directly overhead, and there was still no sign of Shintaro at the grounds. Even Wasumaru had finished drawing every view from his spot and had moved to another spot to start again.

"_At least someone's coming to keep me company,"_ thought Hanabi exasperatedly. Sighing, she calmly sidestepped to her right, letting Kaji fly headfirst past her and land in the dirt.

"Ooow," moaned Kaji as he pulled himself up. "Good reflexes, Hanabi-chan…"

Letting out another sigh, Hanabi said, eyes narrowed, "Honestly Kaji, I'm the wrong person to try to sneak up on; I saw you coming from a mile away."

Massaging his neck, Kaji replied "Yeah, I guess I should've known better by now, but I was just bored. I mean, knowing sensei, he's not gonna be here for another hour."

"Yeah, that's why I had a large breakfast today," said Hanabi, going back to working on her forms.

"Well, I know something that'll pass the time…" said Kaji, letting the last part hang in the air.

"If you're offering me a walk around the grounds, then you really have forgotten about Minori-chan," said Hanabi with a wry smile.

"Wha? No! I haven't forgotten about Minori-chan," said Kaji, blushing. Shaking his head, he quickly said "And that's not what I was going to say anyway! I was thinking we could spar."

Hanabi stopped in mid-kick, her leg high in the air as she looked at Kaji. "You and me spar?"

"Yeah!" said Kaji. "No weapons, no jutsu, no techniques, just our strength and our fists. How 'bout it?"

Bringing her leg back down and smirking, Hanabi replied "Alright, but I'm not going to go easy on you."

"Don't expect you to," said Kaji as he put his fists up while Hanabi dropped into her gentle fist stance. "We stop when one of us quits or when sensei gets here. Loser owes the winner lunch."

"Right, so we stop when you quit. Got it," said Hanabi.

"Hah! You wish," Kaji grinned.

And Kaji made the first move, leading with short jabs as he tested his reach against Hanabi's defense. However, Hanabi was ducking and weaving around and away from his strikes, using her small and nimble stature to her advantage.

As Kaji pressed his attack, Hanabi was calmly giving ground, moving around his punches rather than blocking them. "How do you expect to hit me with attacks that sloppy?" asked Hanabi, arching away from a straight punch.

"Just give me a moment, will ya?" replied Kaji as he stepped forward.

Kaji missed another short jab as Hanabi sidestepped it, but then he swung a haymaker that Hanabi had to block hard with her arms. Surprised for a short moment, Hanabi threw a spinning back kick that forced Kaji to leap away.

"Oh yeah, gettin' my timing down," said Kaji, noting the welt on Hanabi's arm.

"Hmph, don't get too excited," said Hanabi, going back to her stance.

Kaji went on the attack again, throwing straight punches and roundhouse kicks, but Hanabi was now softly blocking them, pushing and redirecting his strikes away from her center. Finally, Kaji threw a right hook and Hanabi caught it, using Kaji's momentum to throw him away. Landing on his feet, Kaji gritted his teeth as Hanabi was now on the attack before he could recover, using unorthodox kicks and sweeps that Kaji could barely block.

"_Jeez, she's fast,"_ thought Kaji, blocking a quick hook kick aimed for the side of his head right before slapping away a side kick to his midsection. Hanabi then threw a roundhouse kick for Kaji's ribs, but Kaji trapped her leg in his arm and twirled underneath it to sweep her other leg. Leaping off of her one leg, Hanabi avoided the sweep and caught Kaji with her foot against his cheek at the same time. The kick sent Kaji rolling away, but he recovered almost instantly, ready with his fists in front of him despite the bruise on his face.

"_He's resilient alright,"_ thought Hanabi as the two began again.

Kaji was now swinging for the knockout punch, trying to set Hanabi up with short jabs so he could level her with a large roundhouse. Hanabi was dancing around his strikes, occasionally pushing a punch out of the way. Every now and then, she would counterattack with a palm strike or a punch, but without her chakra behind it her attacks had little effect on Kaji, only stopping him for a moment before he continued his offense.

Hanabi was now starting to sweat, barely ducking underneath the powerful right hand of Kaji. She tried to counter with a kick to the side of his head, but Kaji dipped his head under her foot and caught her with a straight left to her jaw.

The impact launched her backwards, forcing her to plant her hands on the grass and flip away. She landed meters away in her defensive stance, shocked that Kaji was able to land a solid blow.

"Not so sloppy now, huh?" asked Kaji, lightly bouncing on his feet with his fists in front of him.

"Hmph, you just got lucky there," said Hanabi, narrowing her eyes.

Stepping in again, Kaji kept trying to break through Hanabi's defense with precise jabs. Frustrated, Hanabi would find herself blocking a jab away only to narrowly avoid a large right hand before she could counter.

Fed up with nearly being caught with another straight punch, Hanabi crouched down and threw a leg sweep. Eyes widened, Kaji had to hop to avoid it. When he came back down, his eyes opened wider as Hanabi aimed a sidekick from the ground toward his groin.

Kaji barely blocked the kick with both hands, grabbing Hanabi's foot and saying "Whoa! That's not cool!"

Grinning, Hanabi replied "But this is." She leaped off of her other foot to throw a roundhouse kick to the side of Kaji's head. Kaji got his arms up to block it, but he was forced to drop the foot in his hands. Hanabi took advantage by throwing a kick to the other side of his head. When Kaji ducked under it, she twirled around and caught him with a hard jumping roundhouse kick to his temple, knocking him away.

Despite the hit, Kaji recovered and went right back on the attack, not letting up with relentless punches and kicks. Hanabi, no longer grinning, found that her skill and technique was being challenged by raw aggression. Each block, each jab left a small bruise on her arms and legs and Hanabi knew she was being worn down.

Ducking under a spinning back fist, Hanabi was reminded of her last sparring match with her sister about a year ago, just before she was entered into the academy; the musty smell of the Hyuga training room still fresh in her mind, Hanabi had been pushed to the limit. Unlike their sparring matches in the early days where Hanabi would easily defeat her older sister, Hinata seemed to be inexplicably tougher and faster than her.

Eventually, Hanabi would be overwhelmed by Hinata, and a strong blow sent her sliding along the polished wooden floor. Her father watched the whole thing of course, and he was beaming at Hinata, seemingly forgetting about Hanabi, lying in a heap, struggling to get back to her feet…determined to show in futility that she was not yet beaten…

After that day, Hanabi promised herself that she would become stronger than her sister. She promised herself that she would be the dominant heir to the Hyuga clan. She would never lose again.

"Never again!" And Hanabi fired her chakra out of her hands.

"Ah!" gasped Kaji as he fell to the ground like a stone, clutching his side.

Shaking her head, Hanabi quickly realized what she had done. "Oh no, Kaji!"

"Agh, what's the matter with you? I said no techniques!" groaned Kaji, curling up in pain.

"I'm sorry, I just, got caught in the moment," said Hanabi, kneeling by his side.

"Ah, it's okay. I'm okay. Lemme just…"And Kaji feebly tried to get back to his feet, but he could only manage to prop himself an inch off the ground before he fell back with a grunt.

"Don't try to move! I'll, I'll be right back," said Hanabi as she sprinted toward the entrance to the grounds for help. _"What am I doing?"_ she thought as she ran, completely upset with herself.

* * *

Feeling his way around the chain link fence, Shintaro stepped onto the training grounds. "Hmm, I wonder where everyone is…"

Looking around, Shintaro could not see the chakra signatures of any of his students. He had thought that at the very least he would see Wasumaru drawing on the bench. "I hope they didn't get tired of waiting for me…"

He was about to search the grounds when he sensed someone running towards him. "Hmm? Hanabi-chan? I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I-"

"Sensei," interrupted Hanabi, panting. "Kaji-san's hurt."

"What?" asked Shintaro, immediately concerned. "Lead the way."

As the two were rushing deeper into the grounds, Shintaro asked Hanabi "Do you know what happened to him?"

Biting her lip in shame, Hanabi replied "We were sparring, just for fun…but then, I just got too much into it, and I hit him with a gentle fist by accident."

"I see," said Shintaro, clearly upset. "Then we must hurry."

A moment later, they came upon the clearing where Kaji lay. Still curled up and shaking, he was taking shallow breaths, his eyes closed from the pain inside him.

Kneeling at Kaji's side, Shintaro quickly examined him. "I can still see a faint chakra signal from Hanabi-chan. It looks like a glancing blow…that's a relief. He'll be fine. All the same, we should bring him to the hospital just in case."

"No, I don't need a hospital," said Kaji through gritted teeth. "Just, gimme something for the pain, huh?"

"Well, a hospital's the best bet for that," said Shintaro dryly. He then looked up at another chakra signature. "Wasumaru-san?"

Hanabi turned around. Standing a few meters away from them with his blank stare, Wasumaru looked from Hanabi to Shintaro, and finally, to Kaji lying on the ground. Walking up to them, art supplies in hand, Wasumaru knelt next to his Sensei and peeked under Kaji's shirt.

"Wasumaru-san, what are you doing?" asked Hanabi apprehensively.

But Wasumaru did not answer. Instead, he took out his brush, dipped it into red ink on his palette, and started painting on Kaji's skin. After a few seconds, Kaji started breathing normally. "Yeah, that's better…" he said, no longer shaking.

"Oh, right," said Hanabi. It had been so long since Wasumaru had used his drawing kit that way that she forgot it practically doubled as a first-aid kit. They never had to resort to using it ever since the Land of Petals.

Shintaro sniffed the air and said "Ah, a numbing agent, and a potent one at that. Still, it would be unwise to do any sort of physical activity for a few days."

"However," and Shintaro turned to Hanabi, "I'm very disappointed in you, Hanabi-chan. What if that wasn't a glancing blow? What if you had landed a direct hit on Kaji-san, and put him out of action, or worse?"

Hanabi had never cried before in her life, but the amount of disappointment she was feeling in herself coupled with the shame from her sensei was challenging her to fight back the tears. "I, I'm sorry Shintaro-sensei, Kaji-san…"

"Aw heck, half of this was my fault anyway," said Kaji, sitting up. "I wanted to fight you so badly…just wanted to know where I stood against you, Hanabi-chan…"

Exasperated, Shintaro sighed and shook his head as he stood up. "The next time you two spar, I should be supervising. Well, good thing you three are concerned for each other like a team, what with the chunin exams coming in a week and all."

Hanabi's eyes lit up while Kaji leapt to his feet and said "What? The chunin exams? Oh yeah baby! I'm gonna- ow…"

Kaji sat back down, massaging his side. "We're entered into the exams, right? Right?"

Smiling at his team for the first time today, Shintaro replied "Of course Kaji-san, otherwise there would've been no need to mention it."

"Do you really think we're ready, sensei?" asked Hanabi.

"That's up to you, my students; you all certainly have the ability, but you have to decide for yourself if you're worthy of taking the next step," said Shintaro, turning to leave. "The exam is taking place at Sunagakure. We meet at the main gate to the village at noon in four days. Spend the next three training. Er, on your own, if you don't mind."

Watching their sensei walk away, Kaji turned to Hanabi and asked "So, who were you thinking of?"

"Huh?" wondered Hanabi.

Kaji snorted and said "I'm not as dumb as I look…sometimes. I know you're usually calm and cool; there's no way you just lost control. I've been in my share of fights, so I know what I'm talking about. When you get really into it, sometimes you go to another place, makes you do crazy things. You're thinking about someone else, someone you want to pound into the ground."

"Yeah…" said Hanabi, looking at the ground, eyes narrowed.

"Now, I don't think it's me," said Kaji, hands behind his head. "I mean, unless you're that mad about me almost running you over with that wagon about a week ago; I swear that horse was crazy! But, if it isn't me, mind telling me who it is?"

"Sorry Kaji," she replied, turning away, "it's a personal matter."

"Alright, thought it might've been," said Kaji casually. "Just don't become too obsessed with that person, or you'll always be distracted. You'll get your chance eventually."

"Yeah, maybe…" said Hanabi, watching Wasumaru stand up and walk towards the entrance after Shintaro. "Well, Wasumaru's already gone off somewhere else. I'm going to train on my own for a while. Are you going to be okay?" she asked, eyeing Kaji's side.

"Yeah, no problem," said Kaji. "I'm probably just gonna take a walk 'round here, seeing that I can't do too much now…We should have a rematch," he said, grinning.

"Anytime," she replied, smiling back.

As Kaji walked away, Hanabi went back to practicing her forms. Stepping gracefully along the grass and striking quickly and precisely, she thought to herself _"I will be stronger than you, Hinata, just you wait!"_

Stopping her form for a moment, her eyes rested on a tree only a few meters away. The tree was just the right width, and there was a knot in the wood, right where the vital organs would be. And it was within range.

"_Perfect,"_ she thought, shifting her stance.

* * *

Kaji was walking deeper into the grounds, occasionally stopping from the pain in his side. "Man, she hit hard…" he said to himself.

"Hmph, pathetic," said a rough voice from above.

Surprised, Kaji looked up and asked irritably "What the hell are you doing here?"

A well-built man with several scars on his face looked down on him from a high branch. A cigarette in his mouth, he wore camouflaged pants and a black shirt. His hair was a darker red than Kaji and it was a lot shorter. The one feature that was most prominent about the man was that he did not appear to have a headband anywhere on his body.

Extinguishing the cigarette on his shoe and placing the used butt into his pocket, the man leapt down next to Kaji and buried his arm deep into Kaji's chest.

"Gaah!" gasped Kaji as the force of the blow launched him against a tree, nearly knocking him out. Coughing as he tried to get to his feet, the man before him asked "Is that any way to greet your father, boy?"

"Agh, damnit!" Kaji wheezed, spitting out blood on the grass as he managed to stand up. "Bastard, my organs already felt like they've been rearranged!"

"So I see," said his father, walking over to him. "You shouldn't have left yourself open. That's always your problem, boy; you never learnt how to properly defend yourself, as I just saw with your fight against that Hyuga girl..."

And without another word, he delivered a second punch underneath Kaji's weak guard, dropping him. "Ghnn," Kaji growled, the pain in his chest building. "Yeah, sure…kick a guy when he's down…that's how you like to beat someone…"

But his father showed no remorse as he said "And the best way you can stave off your opponent's attacks is with excuses. Shame, boy; I thought you were tougher than that."

"Go to hell!" spat Kaji, still on the ground with blood dripping down his mouth. "Why're you here anyway? I thought you weren't supposed to be in the village."

His father scoffed and replied "It's not like they can detect me. As for why, well, the chunin exams are coming soon, and I don't think you're quite ready."

"Is that so?" said Kaji, staring defiantly at his father. "Thanks for sharing. Now let me walk this off in peace, huh?"

"I didn't want to just talk to you," his father said impatiently. "I wanted to train you."

"Really? Well, if your idea of training is wailing on me 'till I pass out, no wait, you do that every time I see you anyway…"

Expression unchanging, his father said "I want to teach you the secret technique of our clan."

Surprised, Kaji's eyes lit up. Getting up to one knee, he looked up at his father, completely determined. Wiping away the blood on his face, Kaji said "Yeah…alright…"

* * *

Three days passed quickly in Konohagakure, and eventually the fourth morning shone over the Hyuga household. As the sun poured into her bedroom window, Hanabi changed into a pair of dark blue shorts and her standard dark blue v-neck. Brushing her dark brown hair out of her face, Hanabi flexed her fingers as she felt the warmth of the morning rays on her face.

"I'm ready," she said to herself, grabbing her ninja bag and her traveling pack and stepping out of the room.

The Hyuga house was quiet this morning, as it usually was. Neji was probably on another mission with Team Guy; she knew that Might Guy always kept his team as busy as possible. As Hanabi passed by Hinata's room, she quickly glanced inside and saw that it was empty.

Sure, Hinata could have been on a mission with Team Kurenai, but Hanabi also knew her sister was still a genin as well. _"She'd better hope that we don't take the same exam,"_ thought Hanabi, walking out into the main courtyard and out the front gates.

Walking down the streets, taking in the smells of freshly baked goods and the calming sights of the shopkeepers sweeping their floors, Hanabi savored the morning air, knowing that she would not be back for several days.

Turning to look at a simple herbs and medicine store, Hanabi stopped abruptly when she spotted someone with very familiar hair. "Wasumaru-san?" she wondered, stepping into the store.

The inside was dim, lit only by a few candles. The walkway was also very narrow, as most of the space comprised of shelves and shelves of bottles, jars, and vials filled with different liquids, powders, even live insects and snakes. His back to her, Wasumaru did not seem to have noticed Hanabi as she came in, his wide eyes fixed on the many items in the rear of the store. He wore a small backpack over his gray robes and, perhaps most unusual for Wasumaru, he had his art kit out, but was not drawing.

Taking care not to bump a containter of scorpions on the counter with her elbow, Hanabi tapped Wasumaru lightly on his shoulder. "Wasumaru-san?"

Wasumaru's only response was to glance back at her before turning back to the shelves.

Hanabi looked around, taking note that the clerk also seemed to be missing. "What are you doing here, Wasumaru-san? This place doesn't even seem to be open…"

Over his shoulder, Hanabi saw Wasumaru open his art kit, revealing an empty well among all of the other colors on the pallete. "No red ink…" he said quietly.

"I see," said Hanabi, wondering if she made a mistake walking into the store. Biting her lip and staring down at the lower shelves, she didn't know if she should feel sorry for her teammate or even if Wasumaru could feel such a thing as comfort.

Hanabi's thought was broken when a middle-aged woman with long brown hair and a pointed face walked in from a hidden door in the back. Wearing a dirty white apron stained with sawdust and different colors, she carried a small, thin wooden case in one hand and a sketchbook in the other.

Smiling brightly, the clerk said in a cheerful voice "Alright dear, I've finally finished it, and just in time too." When she spotted Hanabi across the counter, she nearly dropped the items in her hands. "Oh, a customer! I'm so sorry; we usually don't get folks this early. And a Hyuga as well? Hmm, never had one of you in here before. Usually you don't need any of this stuff, eh?"

Bringing her hands up, Hanabi quickly said "Oh no, I'm not buying anything. I'm just here with Wasumaru-san."

"Oh," said the clerk understandingly. "So, you're Wasu-san's teammate?"

"Yes ma'am," replied Hanabi.

"Well, I'm glad to know that Wasu-san has good friends to take care of him." The clerk turned to Wasumaru and said "Your new kit," and she set the case carefully on the counter. As Wasumaru carefully took it, she said "It's lighter and compact, so you won't get tired carrying it to Sunagakure."

Staring at the clerk with his usual blank expression, Wasumaru gave one of his slight nods. "Thank you," he said quietly, turning to leave the store.

"Right, I guess we're leaving," said Hanabi apologetically.

The clerk called after them "Good luck in the exams!" as Hanabi and Wasumaru left the store.

* * *

As Hanabi slowly made her way to the main gates, Wasumaru walking and drawing alongside her, her thoughts lingered on the clerk. She thought about how Wasumaru did not have to pay for his new art kit, how the clerk had a nickname for him…but she couldn't be his mother, or even a close relative; there was no resemblance at all between them.

She decided to ask. "Um, Wasumaru-san? That store clerk…is she your mother?"

Wasumaru stopped drawing, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, he lightly shook his head, and then faintly nodded before returning to his new art kit, working on a colorful drawing of the streets.

Confused by his conflicted answer, Hanabi asked "So, it's complicated, huh?"

But Wasumaru, his eyes focused on his drawing, did not reply.

"_I'll take that as a yes,"_ thought Hanabi. Aloud, she said "That's a nice case she gave to you, huh? Looks like real high quality wood."

This time, Wasumaru gave another slight nod, still drawing on his new art book.

Hanabi sighed and said "Wasumaru-san…I don't know if you really understand this, but, I do think you're an invaluable part of our team. And when we're taking the exams, Kaji-san and I will look out for you, alright?"

Wasumaru stopped drawing for the second time, turning his head to look at her, the black eyes meeting the white. He nodded again, and Hanabi thought that he smiled wider than he ever had before, if only for an instant.

When the two finally reached the gates, Kaji was there to meet them. "What took ya so long?" he grinned, sporting brown shorts and a red shirt that matched his hair underneath a blue vest.

Seeing that Kaji's limbs and face had more bruises and cuts on them than she could remember, Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you? You look a lot worse than when I left you…"

Scratching the back of his neck, Kaji replied "I was just doin' some last minute training. Trust me; you don't wanna know. Hey Wasumaru-san, how're ya holdin' up?"

Wasumaru looked up from his drawing to briefly stare at Kaji, then immediately looked back down.

"Yep, same as always," said Kaji. "So, now all we need is our sensei, and we can get this show on the road!"

"Well then, we'd better not waste any time…"

The three genin looked towards the front gates where Shintaro had suddenly appeared, lips formed into a smile. "Team Three; let's move out!"

"Yes sensei!" said Hanabi and Kaji as the four started their three-day trip to the Sand Village.

* * *

Hanabi: Wow, there are a lot of teams all fighting for the rank of chunin.

Kaji: Bring 'em on! I can take these guys, no problem!

Hanabi: Can you? Some of these teams look tough, some of them look mean, and some of them may be here for other reasons.

Kaji: And if you look around, ya might see some familiar faces. But that won't stop me! Man, I can't wait to fight every last one of 'em!

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Playing in the Sandbox: Step One of the Chunin Exam!

Hanabi: So, she's here after all…

* * *

(Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru are camped in the forest, sitting around a fire. Shintaro is in his own tent. Wasumaru is drawing)

Kaji: Y'know…a thought occurred to me…

Hanabi: Yes?

Kaji: We've all been training for the past few days…

Hanabi: *impatiently* Yes?

Kaji: Well, I've been training with my dad, and I'm sure you've been training your Gentle Fist style, but… *points to Wasumaru* What did he do for training?

Hanabi: *eyes lit up* Umm….I don't really know. Wasumaru-san? What _did_ you do?

Wasumaru: *stops drawing, pulls out his old sketchbook*

Kaji: Huh?

(Wasumaru flips through the sketchbook, showing a flipbook of Shintaro wandering the streets of Konoha and bumping into trashcans, poles, and other villagers. After the flipbook runs out, he resumes drawing)

Hanabi: …...Well, it explains why he needed a new sketchbook…

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Hirosho Nakagare

Gender: Male

Birthdate: June 21

Age: 12

Height: 155.7cm

Weight: 45.8kg

Blood Type: O

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Sirloin steak

Dislikes: Napa Cabbage

* * *

A/N: Alright, so I've decided to continue this fic since I'm really enjoying the characters. Next chapter is in two weeks, since I still have to do quite a bit of research to stay within canon. Please review!


	12. Step One of the Chunin Exam!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 12: Playing in the Sandbox: Step One of the Chunin Exam!

The hot sun bearing down on them, Hanabi was walking diligently alongside Shintaro across the vast desert of the Land of Wind. Wasumaru was on his sensei's back, drawing the endless dunes of golden sands and being careful not to let any drops of sweat land on the sketchbook.

Still with a bright smile on his face, Shintaro said "It should be about another hour through this desert before we get to Sunagakure. Do we still have everyone?"

Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, Hanabi looked around and sighed. "Not everyone…"

Kaji was trailing behind wearing an exhausted look, sweat dripping out of every pore on his body. Completely tired and drained of energy, he sank face first into the sand. "So thirsty…" he groaned.

Hanabi walked back over to Kaji, eyes narrowed in exasperation. "And I bet you're out of water, aren't you?"

"Since this morning…" said Kaji

"Well whose fault is that?" said Hanabi, unzipping her bag. She pulled out a canteen and gave it to him. "Here; you're lucky I packed twice as much. It is a desert after all…"

Sitting up, Kaji quickly unscrewed the cap and drank greedily. After he drank his fill, he wiped his mouth and said "I didn't have room for extra water."

"Didn't have room?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow. "Exactly what did you pack?"

"Let's see," thought Kaji. "Fifteen kunai, twenty shuriken, ten smoke bombs, twenty paper bombs, thirty meters of ninja wire…"

"Kaji," sighed Hanabi, shaking her head. "We're taking the chunin exams, not a small country."

"Well, you don't know what we might have to do! I'm just tryin' to be prepared," said Kaji defensively as he handed back the canteen and got back to his feet.

Hanabi took the canteen, sighed again when she felt that there was only one mouthful of water left in it, and sipped the rest of the water herself. "And now I'm out of water…at least we're close to the village."

"Indeed," said Shintaro. "We'd better hurry or we'll be late." And the team trekked onward, through the hot winds and searing heat.

* * *

After another hour of traveling through the desert, the team came upon the main gate to Sunagakure. Even though the four of them were tired, the three genin stared in awe at the massive entrance.

"Whoa…" said Kaji as Wasumaru drew furiously on his sketchbook.

Hanabi had never seen anything like this. The gate to Sunagakure was a crevice between two high cliffs. Both of the cliffs had several levels that resembled very large stairs around the front, and on each level there were guard posts where the Sand Village's finest jonin had a vantage point.

One of the jonin jumped down to land in front of them; a young man with dark blue hair concealing his right eye and a goatee. With an air of boredom as if he had done this many times before, he said "Please state your business."

Shintaro, Hanabi, and Kaji all took out their permission passes from their bags. Shintaro also held up Wasumaru's pass as he replied "Shintaro Misumi of the Leaf Village with Hanabi Hyuga, Kaji Sogeki, and Wasumaru Zakuūsho. I'm entering my team for the chunin exams."

"I thought as much," said the man before them. "Yuura, Head of Defense of Sunagakure. I apologize for all of the formalities."

"Not at all," said Shintaro reassuringly.

"Well then, this way," said Yuura, leading the four Leaf ninja into the crevasse.

As they walked between the cliffs, Hanabi stared up at the impossibly high rock walls, tempted to use her Byakugan to see the vast inner tunnels on either side, but she opted against it. After all, she did not want to provoke any of the guards and she needed all of her chakra for today.

Her admiration for the village gates was quickly overshadowed by the view of the entire village. Kaji was also very impressed. "Wow…awesome!" he said, staring past his sensei and their guide.

The village sat below them so that they were level with the tops of most of the buildings. Like Konohagakure, there seemed to be an enormous amount of buildings and houses, all surrounded by high cliffs. On closer inspection, Hanabi suspected that all of them were made out of rock.

Yuura said to the four of them "The chunin exams are taking place at 2 o'clock on the west end of the village. I'm sure you'll be able to find it as there are many other teams that have already arrived. If you still need help, feel free to ask any of our ninja for directions."

"Thank you, you've been very kind," said Shintaro, bowing. Letting Wasumaru down from his back, he said to the three genin "Well team, we have a few hours to get something to eat. Meet me at the west end about twenty minutes before the start of the exams and don't cause any trouble."

"Yes sensei!" said Hanabi and Kaji as they, along with Wasumaru, walked on their own towards the village.

As Shintaro looked after them, Yuura said "Are you sure they'll be fine on their own? This isn't an amusement park you know…"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them," said Shintaro, smiling. "They're very mature and capable by themselves."

* * *

"Awesome!" said Kaji, staring at the sight in front of him.

Despite the high noon sun boiling the air around them, the village streets seemed just as alive as the Leaf village. People high in their windows were beating the sand out of their rugs and blankets. Children gleefully followed their mothers who were carrying water and baskets of food on their heads. Horse drawn caravans rolled through the streets, delivering supplies to the countless side vendors that lined the roads.

"Wow, look at this place!" said Kaji excitedly, looking at the alien-like houses and buildings all around him. "This is so cool, this is so cool!" he said, walking backwards as he stared at a particularly large building in the center of town.

"Calm down, will you?" said Hanabi who couldn't hold back a smile. Wasumaru was walking next to her, sketching the scene around him.

"Ah, c'mon now Hanabi-chan, you know well and good that you're just as excited as I- Ow!"

"Hey, watch where you're going you stupid brat!"yelled the villager that Kaji backed into.

Rubbing the back of his head, Kaji yelled back "Who're ya callin' stupid? Come say that to my face, huh! Why I oughtta…"

Hanabi restrained him by grabbing the back of his collar. "We're not here to start fights, Kaji-san," she said calmly, eyes narrowed.

"Aw, I know…" said Kaji, disappointed. That look was quickly wiped from his face when he sniffed the air. "Mmm," he sighed as his eyes glazed over. "Where's that coming from?" he said as he wandered further down the streets, Hanabi following closely behind.

The smell led him to a stand selling skewered meats, sizzling over an open fire. The savory aroma of the dripping chicken and beef combined with the sweet fragrance of browned peppers and onions had Kaji mesmerized. The stout vendor behind the stand noticed this and said "Best kebabs in all of Sunagakure, only 50 ryō apiece."

"That's a bargin I'm takin' right now!" grinned Kaji as he dug into his wallet. "I'll take two!"

"_Always thinking with his stomach…"_ thought Hanabi, shrugging. Aloud, she said "I'll have one," as she took out some coins as well. Wasumaru also stopped briefly to take some money from within his robes.

And soon, all three of them were sitting on the ground, enjoying the succulent taste of freshly cooked meat. Kaji was ravenously tearing into his kebab, filling his mouth to capacity. Hanabi was more civilized, taking small bites and appreciating the flavor of the soft beef and chicken. Wasumaru was eating with one hand and drawing on his pad with the other. Every so often, he would take an orange slice that he bought from another vendor, and stick it on the kebab.

Hanabi peered over. "Is that good?" she asked skeptically, but Wasumaru did not answer. She shrugged and went back to her lunch.

Their feast was soon interrupted. "Well now, what have we here?" said a high condescending voice.

Hanabi and Kaji turned their heads toward two Sand Village ninja while Wasumaru drew and ate obliviously. The one who spoke was a young man with red face paint across his black eyes and his mouth. The symbol of Sunagakure, an hourglass, adorned on his black hood, he wore black robes over a dark blue shirt and trousers, and black fingerless gloves on his hands. He also carried several large scrolls on his back. Smiling down at them, he said "Looks like a couple of runts."

"Wrnts?" grunted Kaji, still with half a kebab in his mouth.

"Come on Kankuro," said his female companion, "at least be a little more welcoming to the Leaf ninja." The woman was only about an inch or two shorter than Kankuro, and had her blond hair tied into four pigtails behind her head. Her teal eyes reflecting a look of amusement, she wore a large gray sand scarf over a light purple blouse and a dark skirt. She also wore a fishnet suit that ended at her thighs and upper arms, and high boots and matching fingerless gloves.

Keeping his eyes on the genin, Kankuro said "Aw Temari, you know I never liked kids all that much; they always think they're tougher than they are…"

Forcing a hard swallow, Kaji yelled "I'm tougher than you, that's for sure!"

Hands in the air, Kankuro shrugged. "See what I mean?"

Kaji looked like he was going to pounce on Kankuro, but Hanabi nonchalantly grabbed his collar again with her free hand. "We're not kids," she said, "we're ninja, and we're here for the chunin exams."

"But of course," said Kankuro, kneeling down so he was at eye level with the Leaf ninja. "So, how do you like the village so far?"

Kaji's temper was stopped abruptly as he replied "Uh, it's pretty cool, I guess…"

But Kankuro let out a short laugh. "Oh, you say that now, but wait 'till you guys play in the Sandbox."

"Jeez, and you call us kids," muttered Kaji.

"I think he's talking about the chunin exam," said Hanabi dryly.

"Good to know one of them has a brain," said Kankuro, causing Kaji to growl at him. Ignoring the look on Kaji's face, Kankuro turned his attention to Wasumaru who was still drawing. "What's with him?" he asked.

"Oh, Wasumaru-san doesn't talk all that much," said Hanabi, looking towards her occupied teammate.

"I like him already. Hmm…I wonder how he'll do in the preliminaries," said Kankuro, scratching his chin. "He'll have to move, you know…"

Temari sighed and said "Alright Kankuro, don't go telling them about the whole exam. We're supposed to be impartial, remember?"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Temari," he said, smiling deviously at the genin. "I'll do my best to prevent them from getting completely annihilated…"

"We won't need you to, that's for sure!" said Kaji defiantly.

"Fine, then I won't," said Kankuro, standing back up.

Hanabi asked the two sand ninja "Are you going to be watching over the exams then?"

Temari nodded as she replied "Yep; our job is to make sure you guys don't get needlessly killed."

"If we can help it," added Kankuro.

"Well I ain't scared," said Kaji bravely.

"We'll see if that changes," he said. "Come on Temari, we'd better leave these three to their lunch; they're gonna need everything they got when the exam starts…"

And Hanabi and Kaji watched as Temari and Kankuro continued on their way toward the west. When they were out of sight, Hanabi asked Kaji "So, what do you think the preliminaries are going to be?"

"I dunno," said Kaji. "Me, I'm hoping we'll have to fight the other teams. I'm ready for some action!"

"Surprise, surprise," sighed Hanabi, a small smirk on her face. "We'd better go too; scout our competition."

"Yeah," Kaji agreed. "But first…"

And Kaji quickly devoured the rest of his kebabs, cleaning off every last bit of meat and taking a big swallow. "Alright, now we can go and kick butt!"

The three Leaf ninja stood up, tossed their bare skewers into a nearby trash bin, and continued down the bustling road to the west.

* * *

From atop of a nearby building, three genin were watching Team Three walking away. All three of them wore gray cloaks and the forehead protectors of Takigakure, the symbol of the waterfall branded on the steel.

One of them, a tall, lanky boy with spiky dark gray hair and his arms hidden in the folds of his cloak, stared at the genin with lethal red eyes. "Oh, so there they are, eh Shiro-san?" he said eagerly, licking his sharp teeth.

Shiro was in the middle with bandages wrapped around his head so that only his black eyes and mouth were exposed. Although he was shorter than his two companions, he was still the leader of his group. Not taking his eyes off of the three Leaf genin, he said calmly "I know what you're feeling, Jiro-san. But our mission is to simply test our abilities."

"In other words, you're planning on fighting Ichiro-san, am I right?" said the third genin, a stout boy with his head hidden under a large straw hat.

Smirking, Shiro replied "Perhaps, Saburo-san. But for now, we play by their rules."

"Aww, come on Shiro-san," said Jiro, still eyeing the ninja below. "I haven't eaten in days!"

"Patience, Jiro-san," said Shiro, "I promise we'll all be fed by the end of the day. The chunin exams take place underground after all. I'm sure we'll have a great time."

"So, this is where you've been…" said a man with a high, squeaky voice that made the three turn around.

"Susumu-sama," said Shiro as all three of them knelt before him.

Susumu was a balding old man with dark, beady eyes. Stepping gingerly toward his students with a bamboo cane, he wore a long, white buttoned coat over black pants. "I hope you three have been behaving; we wouldn't want to start any trouble now, would we?"

"No, father," said Shiro. "Not yet anyway…"

"That's a good boy," grinned Susumu. "Now come, my children. We wouldn't want to be late."

And the old man turned to take the stairs off of the roof while his three students followed diligently behind.

* * *

Walking down the sandy streets, Hanabi and Kaji now wondered if they were heading in the right direction. Wasumaru was following closely behind, still sketching what he could of the buildings around him.

"Man, you'd think they'd paint some of these a different color," said Kaji, drawing dirty looks from the few villagers who overheard him.

"Kaji!" scolded Hanabi as she glanced apologetically to those who kept their eye on them. However, as they traveled past the seemingly endless maze of roads and houses, she had to admit that he had a point. Although she knew that Sunagakure was smaller than Konohagakure, it was hard to find their bearings when the tall buildings made it impossible for them to relate their position to any landmarks. All they could hope for was to keep heading in the general direction of west and hope they were not far off.

After twenty minutes of wandering through the village, Kaji let out a huge sigh and said "Man! Can't we just jump on the rooftops? We'd be able to see a lot better!"

But Hanabi replied "We should keep a low profile. I'd bet they have guards on the roofs around here to prevent any fighting in the village. We wouldn't want to make them think that we're trying to cause trouble."

"But we're not…" groaned Kaji. "It'd only take a second…"

Before Kaji could take a step towards one of the taller buildings, a girl's voice asked "Need help?"

Hanabi and Kaji turned to see a young, black-haired kunoichi leaning against the wall of a shop. Wearing a dark, sleeveless outfit with long pants and a red sash around her neck, she carried a sheathed tanto and a faint air of toughness in her brown eyes. Noticing her Sunagakure headband around her waist, Hanabi replied "Yes please; we're here for the chunin exams."

"Aren't we all," said the older kunoichi, arms crossed over her chest. "Name's Yoshiko," she said, ruby lips formed into a smile.

"I'm Hanabi, and these are my teammates, Kaji-san and Wasumaru-san," said Hanabi, bowing.

Yoshiko gave a short laugh and asked "Why so formal? It's not like you're in my house."

"Heh, uh, right," said Hanabi tentatively. _"She's strange,"_ she thought to herself.

"So, you know the way, huh?" said Kaji with a grin. "We're supposed to be there twenty minutes early."

"No problem," said Yoshiko. Turning her head towards the doorway next to her, she gave a loud whistle. "Yo, Tadashi-san! Hurry up; we gotta go!"

The four ninja all heard an annoyed reply from within the shop. "Kouta-san's still choosing a cloak, Yoshi-chan!"

"Well, tell him to hurry up!" she yelled back. "And don't call me 'Yoshi'!"

Curious, Hanabi and Kaji peered into the store. When their eyes adjusted, they could see a tall, green-eyed boy with short brown hair leaning over his partner, who was looking at the shelves stacked with folded cloaks of different colors. "Come on, Kouta-san," said Tadashi, "just pick one already!"

Kouta, a shorter boy with bowl-cut blue hair, was scratching his round chin in deep thought. "Maybe blue, for peace and purity? Or green for luck? Or maybe orange for energy and enthusiasm…"

"Or how 'bout nothing, since you can't make up your damn mind!"growled Tadashi.

Yoshiko added from outside "Is there a color for indecisiveness? I'd go for that one!"

"I know," said Kouta suddenly, reaching for a cloak. "I choose gray, for intellect and maturity."

"Yeah yeah, great, well done. Let's just buy it and go. Sheesh!" said Tadashi as he pushed his teammate to the counter.

As they paid the clerk, Yoshiko shook her head and said "I don't know why you'd go for such a drab color, Kouta-kun. Well, at least you won't stand out."

When Tadashi and Kouta stepped out into the sunlight, Hanabi and Kaji could see them clearly. Tadashi wore brown desert robes over his dark blue pants and mesh shirt and his Sunagakure headband on his forehead. Along with his ninja pack at his side, Hanabi could also spot a small scroll on his belt.

Kouta on the other hand seemed to be entirely more relaxed than Tadashi. An indifferent smile on his rounded face, he was already wearing the large gray cloak that he purchased a few seconds ago. In fact, the cloak seemed to be too big for him as the hem was dragging along the ground. Hanabi figured he was wearing his headband somewhere underneath since he was not wearing it on his head like Tadashi. "Yep, this is a nice cloak," he said to himself.

"Glad you think so, Kouta-kun," said Yoshiko, shaking her head. "Guys, this is Hanabi-san, Kaji-san, and Wasumaru-san, from the leaf village."

"Ah, first-hand look at the competition," said Tadashi.

"Oh, bring it on," said Kaji, smiling despite the fact that Tadashi was a good head taller than him.

"We'll have plenty of time to fight them during the exam," said Hanabi. She then said to Yoshiko "You guys are in the exam, I take it?"

"That's right!" said Yoshiko. "First time, and we don't wanna be late. Let's go, team!"

"Yes, Yoshi-chan!" said Tadashi.

"I said don't call me 'Yoshi'!" she said angrily, slapping him on the back.

Kouta had walked over to Wasumaru, interested in his drawing. "Oh, that's really good. I wish I could draw like that…" he said as Wasumaru started sketching the shop with Tadashi and Yoshiko at the entrance.

"You can watch him draw later, Kouta-kun," said Yoshiko, grabbing his hand and pulling him away. Turning to the Leaf genin, she said "Follow us."

"Alright," said Hanabi.

"You got it," said Kaji.

And the six of them walked to the west, the Sand team in front. _"I hope we don't have to fight them,"_ thought Hanabi, glancing at the backs of each of their new companions. _"We won't let anything stand in our way."_

* * *

At a small, closed compound on the edge of town, away from the shops and houses, Shintaro was waiting patiently. Next to him was a slightly taller ninja in the standard gray flak jacket with head wrappings that covered the left side of his face and red facial paint on the right side. Sighing, Shintaro said to him "Usually, it's me who's late. My students get there early if anything…"

"If your students don't get here before the start of the exam, then they fail automatically," said Baki. "I run a tight ship here."

"I fully understand, Baki-san," said Shintaro, sighing. _"Why now of all days for them to be late instead of me?"_ he thought.

But Shintaro did not have to worry for long, as he sensed six chakra signatures in the distance, three of them familiar. "Ah, about time…"

Emerging from the end of the streets, Yoshiko, Tadashi, and Kouta, followed by Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru, were walking towards the small compound. "See?" said Yoshiko confidently, "I knew we'd get there in time."

"Even with the pit stop," muttured Kaji.

"Sorry, but I needed the snack," said Kouta, finishing an apple. "Don't want to enter this exam on an empty stomach."

"Well, at least we're here now," said Hanabi. "Thanks, Yoshiko-san."

"Don't mention it," she replied. "Good luck. See ya in there!" And Yoshiko, along with her two teammates, rushed ahead to enter the compound while Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru walked to their sensei.

When Shintaro had his students in front of him, he asked casually "Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

"Only a little bit, sensei," replied Hanabi, smiling.

"Yeah," said Kaji, "But I still say we should've just used the rooftops."

"We thank you that you did not," said Baki.

"Well, it would've been easier, and maybe we wouldn't have been here late!" said Kaji irritably. "Who's this guy?" he asked his sensei.

With a cold, icy stare, the Sand jonin replied "My name is Baki, and I will be your proctor for this exam."

Kaji's cool attitude dissolved in an instant, looking back at the jonin and shaking with fear. "Wha? B-but, wha?"

"Don't worry," said Baki. "As your proctor, I will be impartial. Meaning that I won't interfere with your progress…even if it's to save you."

Hanabi could see the color drain from Kaji's face. With a smile on his face however, Shintaro said quickly "Now, now, don't take what Baki-san says seriously. He's actually very nice; we became friends quickly while I was here waiting for you."

By the steely look on Baki's face, Hanabi suspected that their 'friendship' was very one-sided.

To all of his students, Shintaro said "Now listen carefully; the chunin exams will demand all of your skills, all of your abilities, and all of your effort. You're competing against over a hundred other genin, and only a few, if any, will pass the exam. Be prepared for anything, and fight as if you want to kill, because more than likely your opponent will be trying to do the same. Protect each other when you can, and don't be reckless. Understood?"

"Yes sensei!" replied Hanabi and Kaji.

"Good. Have fun in there," said Shintaro with a wry smile.

"You may head in," said Baki. "I will join you shortly."

Hanabi and Kaji glanced at each other, and then glanced over at Wasumaru, still oblivious to everything around him. A small grin on both of their faces, they walked past the two jonin with Wasumaru following close behind, and Hanabi opened the rusty metal door to the compound.

When they stepped inside, the air had suddenly turned cool, albeit dry. The walls were dull and unmarked, and the only light was from a solitary lightbulb on the ceiling, and a lamp resting on a desk at the opposite end of the dark room. Behind the small, metal desk was another Snad jonin in large glasses with a stack of papers on either side of him.

"Don't be shy," said the man. "Come in."

Hanabi and Kaji walked up to the desk with Wasumaru behind them, a curious look on their faces. The jonin took three papers and a pen and handed them to Hanabi and Kaji. "Read these and sign," he said quietly, clasping his hands on the desk.

Hanabi and Kaji both read the papers together. "A waiver?" wondered Hanabi.

"Yes," said the jonin. "Although small, there is always the chance that a genin doesn't make it out of the Sandbox alive."

"Hah, we ain't scared," said Kaji bravely. "We've come close to death before…"

Hanabi knew that he was referring to when they fought Iwao over a month ago. Iwao was a full-fledged jonin of the Leaf village and former member of the ANBU black ops, but they had still fought him and, even though they had sustained injuries, they had beaten him.

Since then, Hanabi knew they had gotten stronger, and as she signed the wavier and handed a copy to Wasumaru who quickly signed it without reading it, she knew that they were more than ready for whatever lay ahead.

They handed in their signed waviers, which the jonin placed neatly on the other stack of papers. "You are now officialy in the chunin exam. Go through the next room and await instructions from the proctor."

The jonin pressed a button underneath the desk, and the floor next to him opened to reveal a long, steep and narrow staircase leading down to another door. Hanabi went first, followed by Kaji and Wasumaru.

When they opened the door, Hanabi's eyes widened at the sheer size of the underground room and the number of genin that were waiting for the start of the exam.

The floors and walls were all made of cold green ceramic, and the ceiling had two powerful lights and many vents to filter air into the room. Above them was a steel balcony from where they could only assume was for the proctor. And despite the fact that there were a very large number of ninja in the room, they all fit comfortably, with plenty of room to spare.

"Check this place out," said Kaji, looking around with his arms casually behind his head.

"Yeah," said Hanabi as Wasumaru immediately started sketching. As they walked into the room, ignoring the stares from some of the genin, she scanned the room. Many of the entrants looked too excited to be here, and therefore did not seem interesting to Hanabi. _"They'll probably be taken out on the first step,"_ she thought as she looked around the crowd for familiar faces.

It did not take her long to find her fellow Leaf village mates. Past some genin from Amegakure, she spotted the tough-looking Dai Kotoshiba along with the calm Kisho Takanabe and the feisty Sayoko Tomari. Kisho had a large bottle of water that he was taking sips from frequently while the other two were standing with their arms crossed, acknowledging their former classmates.

"_No surprise there,"_ thought Hanabi; she knew that there was a lot of talent on that team. Despite not knowing anything about Kisho, Dai and Sayoko were tough as nails.

Not five meters away, Hanabi spotted her green-haired friend Madoka chatting with Hirosho and Reiko. _"I honestly didn't think she'd be here,"_ she thought, smiling at the fact that Madoka's teammates still seemed reluctant to be with her while she talked on obliviously.

"Hey Wasumaru-san, look," she said quietly. "Some of our class is here…Wasumaru-san?"

Wasumaru had stopped drawing, staring at something in the distance. Curious, Hanabi looked over his shoulder and tried to see what he was looking at. Through all of the other teams, she saw a group of three ninjas from Takigakure, each dressed in gray cloaks and bandages that hid most of their features. Devious smiles on their faces, they looked as if they wanted to start trouble.

Kaji noticed them and asked "What's with those guys?"

"I don't know…" replied Hanabi. She didn't know what it was, but something about them made her uneasy. She looked back at Wasumaru, his blank eyes staring at the lone three genin against the wall. Hanabi could swear that his lips were quivering… as if in fear?

"Wasumaru-san, come on; let's say hi to our classmates," said Hanabi, tugging on his hand. She just wanted an excuse to look away from that team, and she was sure Wasumaru didn't need to look at them any further.

"There's Yoshiko-chan's team," said Kaji, pointing out the kunoichi in another corner. Tadashi and Kouta at her side, she nodded at the three Leaf genin they had traveled with, and Kaji and Hanabi returned the nod.

In another corner, Hanabi saw another team of Leaf ninja she recognized. One was a blond, sea-green eyed kunoichi who wore a purple shirt that revealed her midriff, and an open purple skirt over a black skirt. Hanabi recognized her as Ino Yamanaka, the girl who ran the flower shop in town.

The pink-haired girl next to her was also familiar. With green eyes and a fair complexion, she wore a red shirt with a pink skirt over skin-tight black shorts. She also wore pink elbow warmers with black gloves and matching black boots. Hanabi often saw her visiting the Hokage tower, and she also overheard rumors that this girl was being trained personally by Lady Tsunade herself. If memory serves, her name was Sakura.

"If she's really trained by the fifth Hokage, then she's really tough," said Hanabi to Kaji

"Hmm?" he wondered, looking in her direction. "Ah…I dunno, she doesn't look all that tough…"

"Kaji, _I_ don't look tough," said Hanabi with a dry smile.

"Point taken," said Kaji. "Hmm, trained by the fifth, eh? Then that's who I wanna fight."

Hanabi let out a small scoff as she looked back at them. The boy that was with Ino and Sakura didn't seem like much; he was a fat kid with large brown hair wearing armor over a red shirt. With the kanji symbol for 'eat' on the armor, he was constantly eating from a large bag of potato chips.

Turning slightly away, Hanabi spotted a very familiar person indeed; a dark blue haired girl that made her gasp.

"So," she said to herself. "_She's_ here…"

Hinata's hair had grown to just below her shoulder, and had started to form small bangs on her forehead. Her Leaf village headband around her neck, she wore a light purple zip-up sweater over a mesh shirt and dark blue pants.

"Hmm?" said Kaji. "Hey, that girl has the same eyes as you. You two related?"

"Yes," said Hanabi through gritted teeth. "Hinata-sama is my big sister…"

"Ah," he said, looking at Hanabi. "By the way you said that, I take it you aren't happy to see her?"

"Remember that someone I wanted to fight so badly?" said Hanabi, not taking her eyes off of her sister.

"Yeah?" said Kaji. After a moment, his eyes widened. "Oh…"

"Yeah," she said.

Hanabi was so focused on her sister that she barely noticed her teammates; a boy with spiky dark brown hair and red facial markings with a small white dog as tall as his knees, and another boy hidden under a large sea-green jacket with a hood and dark sunglasses. They were irrelevant compared to Hinata.

"My own sister…good," said Hanabi, clenching her fists. "I'm ready. I won't lose to you again, Hinata. Not now, not ever!"

* * *

Kaji: Alright! Finally, it's the start of the test! Man, I'm fired up!

Hanabi: I have to defeat my sister, no matter what.

Kaji: Uh, right, that too. Anyway, the first part of the test has everyone on their toes, to say the least.

Hanabi: Just don't get hit. I won't forgive you if we fail because of you!

Kaji: Ah, there's nothing here that can stop me. Wait…whaddaya mean there's a written portion of the exam?

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Don't Forget to Write: The Exam Begins!

Kaji: Why did there have to be a written portion? I can't answer any of these!

* * *

(Hanabi and Wasumaru are behind a counter)

Hanabi: Alright fans, normally, this would be the time where we teach you some of our techniques, but today we have a special offer for you.

Kaji: *comes in from the side* A special offer? Oh wow!

Hanabi: *displays a book* This here's a collection of over one hundred recipes devised by our very own Wasumaru-san, and collected by observing him whenever he eats. Never be bored with your food ever again!

Kaji: *reads through a copy* Braised beef with banana slices? Pork ramen with candied apples? Tuna onigiri with coconut shavings and dipped in lemon juice? Uhh…none of this stuff looks good…

Hanabi: But it tastes great! For example, this fried rice with strawberries and cream that Wasumaru-san had for lunch during our time off is just one of many creative recipies you'll find in Wasu-san's cookbook. Only 250 ryō!

Kaji: *takes a bite of fried rice and strawberries and cream, then promptly spits it out* Aack! This crap's awful!

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Yoshiko Iketani

Gender: Female

Birthdate: May 23

Age: 13

Height: 157.2cm

Weight: 46.3kg

Blood Type: B

Affiliation: Sunagakure

Favorite Food: Salmon Sashimi

Dislikes: Dried Dates

* * *

A/N: Next chapter's in two weeks. Oh, and I keep forgetting to say this, so I don't own anything from Naruto except for the characters that are legitimately mine. (I should get some credit for Hanabi, but meh…)


	13. Don't Forget to Write: The Exam Begins!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 13: Don't Forget to Write: The Exam Begins!

There were one hundred and fifty-six genin in the large, spacious room, but Hanabi had her eyes on only one. Her sister, Hinata, was standing against the wall and talking with her teammates. As far as Hanabi knew, she had not seen her yet.

"You're not gonna say hi to her then?" asked Kaji, looking with Hanabi.

"No," she replied. "I don't have much to say to her anyway."

"Yeah, didn't think so," said Kaji. "I know you're probably not gonna answer me, but it doesn't hurt to ask and I think I can guess anyway; why're ya so angry at her?"

"It's personal," said Hanabi, not taking her eyes off of Hinata.

"Yep," said Kaji. "Well, like I said before, just don't let her distract you."

"Oh don't worry, I won't," said Hanabi. "Just promise me that whatever happens, we don't lose to her team."

"Sure, don't worry about it," he grinned, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Kaji-san, I'm serious," said Hanabi, turning to face him. "We, do, not, lose, to her. You understand?"

His grin quickly faded. "Yeah, sure, I understand, Hanabi-chan."

She then turned to face Wasumaru. "Understand, Wasumaru-san?" she asked, albeit a bit gentler.

Wasumaru stared back at Hanabi, almost quizzically. But after a moment, he gave one of his slight nods and sat down to draw.

"…Right…," said Hanabi, sitting cross-legged next to Wasumaru. She rested her head against her hand, waiting for the exam to start.

His eyebrow raised, Kaji glanced at Hanabi carefully before staring at the balcony above the entrance. _"I know we're supposed to take this seriously,"_ he thought, _"but maybe Hanabi-chan's takin' this a little too seriously…"_

The chatter in the large room was immediately silenced when a voice rang out. "Alright, that's enough talking!"

All of the genin turned on the spot, their eyes on the metal balcony where Baki stood with an expressionless look on his face, flanked by eight other ninja on either side of him. Two of them were Temari and Kankuro, each with a knowing smile at the genin. Turning his head slowly, the Sand jonin looked through the entrants, trying to sense any signs of weakness from the crowd of young ninja before him almost as if to predict which of them will not make it.

A cruel grin on his face, he addressed the crowd. "Listen up! Welcome to the Sandbox. My name is Baki, and I'm your proctor for this exam. I promise you that the next few days _will_ be the toughest days you have ever experienced. Becoming a chunin isn't going to be easy. You will sweat, you will bleed, and, if you're careless enough, some of you may lose your lives here."

There was some murmuring at the last statement from a few of the genin, but not from Hanabi, Kaji, or Wasumaru; they were ready.

"Now, I know that there are some of you out there who have doubts, who are only taking part in this test only to appease your teammates. I will give those of you one last chance to leave this exam along with your teammates, because any doubt, or hesitation, or fear will cost you dearly in the Sandbox."

Despite more murmuring from the crowd, no one made a step toward the door. Everyone here had something to prove to themselves and to others. Everyone wanted to take the next step.

Seeing that not a single genin wanted to quit, Baki nodded. "Good. And now, the test begins with the preliminaries, which will take place in this very room. There are two rules; the first rule is although you are allowed to use whatever tools or techniques you may have, you may not attack or interfere with any of the other teams if you can help it. Our sentries, and myself, will fail any team that intentionally breaks this rule. We don't want you fighting each other…yet."

"The second, and more important rule, is that if you receive a single cut in this room, then you will fail, along with your teammates; if you do get cut in this room, then you won't stand a chance at what comes ahead."

There was a more vibrant reaction from the crowd as the perplexed genin wondered how those two rules could possibly co-exist. "Hey, wait a minute," said Kaji to the men on the balcony. "If we can't attack each other, then how are any of us going to fail in this room?"

"Good question," said Baki, grinning wider. "And here's the answer: the test will now begin!"

Before anyone could say anything else, four large rotatable turrets, each with two long barrels, protracted from the ceiling and fired eight kunai in random directions.

Gasps of surprise filled the air as the kunai rained down on the crowd. Some genin who were slow on the uptake were cut on the arms or legs. Kaji had to raise a leg to avoid a kunai that nearly struck his shin as the knife ricocheted off of the ground and struck another hapless boy nearby. "Yikes! That was close…"

Hanabi saw the near-miss and glanced at the ground. _"I see,"_ she thought as she looked at the walls as well. _"The floor and walls are made of the same material. This room was designed to have any weapons thrown bounce around as long as possible, maximizing the chances of injuring someone."_

"Byakugan!" she cried, and her vision immediately expanded to cover the entire room. As she performed a backflip to avoid a kunai from the side, the turrets rotated and fired eight more kunai into the room. When she landed, Hanabi's eyes widened. "Wasumaru-san?"

Oblivious to the chaos around him, Wasumaru was the only genin in the room that was not moving, instead choosing to draw the turrets that released eight more knives into the room. With her Byakugan active, Hanabi saw one of them heading straight towards his back. Moving quickly, she raced to him, leaped over his head, and caught the kunai in her dive before rolling. Using her new kunai to block another out of her face, she called out "Kaji-san; help me cover Wasumaru-san!"

Taking out one of his own kunai, Kaji jumped over a knife that barely missed his legs. When he saw Wasumaru not moving from his spot, he sighed "Aw hell," and rushed over to protect Wasumaru's flank, deflecting another kunai when he got there.

The turrets released twelve more kunai into the room, and the genin who were already out were now struggling to stay alive. However, the other teams were thriving under the increased pressure of the sailing weapons. Hanabi observed them while she dodged and repelled all of the knives that came near her.

Yoshiko and Tadashi were surprisingly standing behind Kouta. "Alright Kouta-kun, do your thing!" said Yoshiko as ducked underneath a passing kunai.

"Certainly, Yoshiko-chan," said Kouta. In a flash, he twirled his cloak in front of him and cried "Wind wall jutsu!" The air around his spinning cloak created a solid shield that warded off all of the kunai that came towards the team.

"Nice one, Kouta-kun," said Tadashi, blocking a kunai that had ricocheted off of the ground.

_"They're doing well,"_ thought Hanabi, grabbing another knife out of the air.

On the other side of the room, Sakura and Ino were nimbly avoiding the many weapons that were coming within inches of their limbs. Although the kunai were striking close to them, neither of the two kunoichi were in any danger as their training allowed both of them to dodge the knives with impunity.

"You better keep up with me," said Sakura, throwing a kunai to intercept another that came at her.

"Worry about yourself," said Ino, twirling away from a kunai that nearly struck her waist.

Hanabi was impressed with them; even the chubby ninja that she had counted out earlier was swiftly moving in between the knives.

She had to quickly focus on her surroundings however as sixteen more kunai rained down upon them. As several of them ricocheted and scratched a kunoichi behind her, Hanabi caught another kunai that made her raise an eyebrow; there was a blue ribbon tied around the handle.

"_What's this?"_ she wondered. Looking around, she spotted four more kunai that had a similar blue ribbon around the handle. Sidestepping a kunai that narrowly avoided her leg, she pocketed the kunai in her hand, thinking _"This might be useful later…"_

Kaji was skillfully blocking anything that came toward him and Wasumaru, who was drawing the kunai now at his feet. "This is no problem," said Kaji, and indeed, no other teams appeared to have any more trouble dodging around the blades.

As everyone was getting used to the many kunai that were flying around the room, six panels slid open, three on opposite sides of the room, revealing six large horizontal slits. Suddenly, the slits fired six shuriken each in random directions while the turrets above launched twenty kunai, taking down several more teams that were caught off guard.

Hanabi barely had enough focus to watch the other teams with the density of the attacks around her, but she could manage it. Nearby, Dai Kotoshiba was easily deflecting the shuriken and kunai away from his team. Sayoko was doing the same, moving with the grace of a dancer with two knives in her hand. Kisho was between them, casually taking sips from his water bottle while nonchalantly snatching the occasional wayward kunai.

In the back, Hanabi was not surprised to see her sister doing as well as she was. Hinata, her Byakugan also active, was easily swiftly ducking and weaving and sidestepping anything that came at her. Her teammates were moving as quickly and efficiently as she was; the boy with the dog stayed against the wall and blocked all of the shuriken and kunai away from himself and his familiar. The quiet boy with the large hooded jacket was moving as little as possible to conserve energy, avoiding attacks with one casual step.

"_Good,"_ thought Hanabi, _"It'd be a shame if they got eliminated here; I want to fight Hinata myself!"_

Swiping away another shuriken, another team caught her eye; the three robed ninjas from Takigakure were throwing needles to intercept the kunai and shuriken coming towards them. The thing that bothered Hanabi was the fact that a large number of needles and kunai and shuriken seemed to find their way into the backs and limbs of nearby genin, even ones who were already eliminated or prone on the ground. The three even seemed as if they were enjoying it with large, excited grins on their faces.

Hanabi noticed that the sentries on the catwalk were not showing disapproval on their faces, and why should they? The three were simply defending themselves. It may as well have been just bad luck that other genin were being hit by the deflected weapons. As close as to bending the rules this was, Hanabi could not blame them for tactically eliminating some of the competition this way.

What she didn't like, and made her even more uneasy about that team than before, was the fact that that didn't seem to even be the reason why they were doing it; by their predatorial demeanor, they seemed to be doing it for blood.

"_I really don't like them,"_ she thought.

The floor was being littered with countless weapons, and it was hard for some genin to find some place to put their foot where a flat shuriken would make them slip. Hanabi and Kaji both seemed to manage however, as the many littered weapons formed a neat circle around them.

"You doing alright, Kaji-san?" asked Hanabi, snatching another kunai that nearly hit Wasumaru.

"You don't have ta worry 'bout me!" he replied, deflecting two shuriken away.

As Hanabi used the kunai she caught to block another shuriken out of her face, she noted the yellow ribbon on her kunai. _"What does this mean?"_ she wondered, spotting six more similarly tied kunai scattered around as she pocketed the yellow kunai.

Not long after the last volley, the turrets fired twenty eight kunai into the room and the slits in the wall launched ten shuriken each as the teams who were already eliminated struggled to get to the wall. As Hanabi prepared for the incoming attacks, she spotted three kunai that were tied with a red ribbon.

"Kaji-san, do you see th- Kaji, look out!"

"Huh?" wondered Kaji as he turned around. His eyes widened when a kunai struck him dead in the chest.

"No!" cried Hanabi.

The shocked look on Kaji's face quickly disappeared, along with the rest of him in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Hanabi was relieved to see that the kunai had imbedded itself into a log that Kaji was now carrying. "Whew, close one!" said Kaji, grinning.

As Hanabi casually blocked a shuriken behind her, she sighed and said "Yeah, that close to me having to hate you forever."

The shuriken Hanabi had deflected clattered to the ground, and the sounds of clanging metal ceased as it was the last airborne weapon in the room. The preliminaries finally over, the room fell silent save for the heavy breathing from many of the genin.

Baki surveyed the damage; there were a small number of genin that were hit directly with several shuriken and kunai, and were gingerly tending to their wounds. Others who received minor cuts felt dejected that they were eliminated so early in the test. Even still, a large number of teams, about thirty, remained unscathed. "Impressive," he thought aloud. "That's the most survivors we've had so far."

To the crowd, he yelled "That concludes the preliminary round. All of those who broke the second rule will leave now with their teammates, and don't try to sneak in; we know which ones have been eliminated and we will inspect everyone that goes into the next room anyway. If we catch you trying to cheat this exam, then a minor cut will be the very least of your worries."

All of the genin that were wounded, some of which included whole teams, reluctantly made their way to the door. The genin who didn't receive a single scratch but had to leave anyway due to their teammates glanced at them with hints of resentment. As Hanabi watched them all disappear behind the door, she thought to herself _"It's probably best for them that they failed; from what Baki said, the next stages may kill them."_

When the last of the failed entrants left the room, Baki continued "To the rest of you who passed, line up against the wall so you can be assigned a number for the first stage."

The remaining genin did as they were told, backing against the far wall and standing at attention. As Hanabi and Kaji finally convinced Wasumaru to leave his spot with his completed drawing, she noticed that the team from Takigakure was given a wider berth than the other teams. The genin on either side of them were shrinking away from the mysterious three ninja.

Nevertheless, once the genin had taken their spots against the wall, Baki said "Take a look around. Take a _very_ good look. It's only going to get harder from here on out." Baki and the sentries all jumped down and walked towards the back wall, each of them starting at different points in the line and assigning numbers one by one to the entrants.

Traveling down the line, Kankuro reached Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru. "And you're number twenty-three," he said to Hanabi. To Kaji, he said "And you're number thirty-two. Having fun yet?"

"Oh yeah; I'm havin' lots of fun," replied Kaji bravely.

"Hah, I'm sure," said Kankuro. Walking over to Wasumaru who was drawing another sketch of the room obliviously, Kankuro asked Hanabi "Uh, is he going to understand me?"

Hanabi shrugged. "He always seems to…"

"Right," said Kankuro, not at all assured. Looking back at Wasumaru, still drawing on his pad, he said to him "You're number forty-one," and moved on.

After all of the numbers were assigned, Baki said "You will now step through to the next room. And be sure to remember your number, as we will not be repeating it for you."

A large section of panels on the bottom of the wall slid open, startling the genin who were leaning against them. When Hanabi and Kaji looked inside, Kaji was stricken with fear. "No," he said, shaking. "No, no, no! Anything but this!"

* * *

The jonin were watching the test in the viewing room, a large underground room with monitors filling three of the walls. Standing with their fellow Leaf comrades, Asuma and Kurenai witnessed their two teams passing the preliminary round.

Smoking one of his cigarettes, Asuma grinned and said "Seems like Ino-chan and Sakura-chan make a good team after all, and I was worried that they'd refuse to work together. Instead, they're challenging themselves to out perform the other."

"Hinata-san has also vastly improved since the first time she took this test," said Kurenai. "Kiba and Shino-san were always competent, but Hinata-san used to be so tentative and meek. She seems to have left that behind now."

"Heh, speaking of first-timers," said Asuma, glancing at Hitoshi and Mayumi, "You two entered your teams as soon as you could, eh? Are they that good?"

"If they weren't, then we wouldn't have entered them," said Hitoshi, arms folded over his chest. "All three of my students are more than capable of handling themselves; they've proven that in their missions."

"The same goes for my students," said Mayumi, smiling. "Granted, Hirosho-san and Reiko-san were feisty at first, but I've managed to keep 'em in line,"she said with a wink.

"What about Madoka-chan?" wondered Kurenai. "Is she tough enough to take this exam?"

"Oh, don't you worry about her," Mayumi replied with a thumbs-up, "I'm sure she'll get very far."

The steel door at the back of the room opened with a sharp creak, drawing glances from some of the jonin. Soon, angry shouts of "Watch it!" and "Hey!" filled the room as Shintaro made his way to the Leaf jonin.

"Sorry, excuse me," said Shintaro apologetically when he bumped into an ample sand jonin with shoulder-length dirty blond hair.

"Don't worry about it," she said as Shintaro stepped past her to stand next to Asuma.

Without looking at him, Hitoshi scoffed and said "Late as usual, eh Shintaro-san?"

"Yes, I apologize," said Shintaro, smiling at Hitoshi. "I had a little bit of a problem finding the door."

"It was just on the other side of the building, what took you so long?" wondered Mayumi, perplexed.

Shintaro appeared to not have heard her. Instead, he asked "What's happened so far?"

Asuma answered him. "They've just finished the preliminaries. Your team passed, along with everyone else here; this room used to be a bit more crowded."

"Ah, that's a relief," said Shintaro. "After all, it would be a shame if I had to leave right after I spent so much time getting here."

"Indeed," said Hitoshi.

Looking at the screens, Kurenai sighed and said "It looks like Baki-san's not holding anything back."

"He's that strict? He seemed like a nice man to me," said Shintaro.

"Heh, nice?" said Asuma, putting his cigarette out. "Don't know why you'd think that; Baki-san used to teach the current Kazekage."

Shintaro whistled and said "The Kazekage, huh? Well, then I'm sure he'll provide my students with exciting challenges, but nothing they can't handle…"

* * *

"No, no, no, why?" cried Kaji. "This is a classroom!"

And so it was. Before Hanabi and all of the other genin was a smaller room with a low ceiling lined with rows and rows of steel desks and chairs. The floors and walls were made from the same ceramic green, and were bare save for a large blackboard behind a table at the end of the room. On a closer look, Hanabi could see that the backs of the chairs at each desk were numbered.

Kaji was beside himself. "A written test? Really? Aw man, I didn't study for this!"

"Calm down, Kaji-san," said Hanabi exasperatedly. "I'm sure you'll do fine…"

Inside however, Hanabi knew that if Kaji were to be a liability anywhere in this exam, it would be during a written portion. _"Well, maybe this test will be easy, and Kaji will pass it,"_ she thought hopefully.

"Alright you maggots, stop gawking and find your seat!" yelled Baki with his sentries behind him. "We don't have all day!"

The genin quickly rushed to their seats, except for Wasumaru, who casually walked to his. Looking around, Hanabi found that, predictably, every member of a team was separated from each other, including her own. She was seated next to a wall in the middle row, Kaji was seated in the middle of the room one row behind her, and Wasumaru was seated next to the opposite wall one row behind him.

Another thing that bothered Hanabi was that she sat right behind one of the ninja from Takigakure. Although he was the shortest one of his team, he seemed to have the strongest aura of insanity around him. Hanabi tried her hardest not to look at him as Baki stood at the front of the room.

The genin fell silent once more as their proctor spoke to them. "I assume you've all figured this out, but I'll say it for those of you who are still clueless; the first stage is a written test to prove how much you have learned so far. Once again, there are two rules. The first is you will not look off of another genin's paper. The second is that you may not speak during this exam. If you break either of these rules, then your whole team will fail."

"Not good," muttered Kaji under his breath.

"Interesting," said Hanabi.

As the sentries finished handing out the test paper facedown along with a pencil to each genin, Baki continued. "There are ten questions on the exam. You must correctly answer eight of them, or suffer the consequences."

"Definitely not good!" said Kaji to himself.

"Oh great," sighed Hanabi, glancing at Kaji.

"You will have ten minutes to complete this exam, which should be more than enough," said Baki as the sentries took their posts on either sides of the room. Taking out a small hourglass, Baki set it down on the table. "Begin!"

As Baki turned the hourglass, the genin flipped their papers over and started the exam. Hanabi quickly signed her name at the top and looked over the questions. _"What the?"_ she thought, surprised at the questions on the test:

1. How many waves of weapons attacked you?

2. How many sources of kunai were there?

3. How many sources of shuriken were there?

4. How many kunai had a blue ribbon attached to them?

5. Out of all of the colored kunai, which color had the most kunai?

6. How many shuriken attacked you?

7. How many genin were eliminated in the preliminaries?

8. How many kunai had a green ribbon attached to them?

8. What, if anything, is wrong with this question?

10. How many kunai attacked you?

"_A memory test?"_ she wondered. _"What's this all about? Were we told beforehand that we had to memorize everything that happened?"_

Kaji was sweating. _"What the crap? How am I supposed to answer any of these?"_

Wasumaru was silently staring at his test, not moving his pencil.

Hanabi bit her lip. She could answer these questions easily since she had the Byakugan; she witnessed everything that went on in that room since the prelims began. What she was worried about was Kaji. There seemed to be no hint that they had to remember the number of attacks.

Her eyes widened as she realized that there were indeed hints; the number of colored kunai that seemingly had no purpose, the fact that Baki told them to take a good look around the room and give them the opportunity to count the number of weapons in the room, and how this test was to check what they have learned.

Gritting her teeth, she could only hope that Kaji could take the hint, since there was no way to convey any information to him. All she could do was to answer the questions herself.

"_Let's see,"_ she thought to herself. _"There were five waves, the last two had shuriken," _she thought, easily answering the first question. The next two questions were simple; Hanabi recalled that there were four turrets that fired only kunai and six slots in the walls for the shuriken.

At the fourth question, Hanabi had to think for a moment. She remembered seeing four kunai with a blue ribbon, plus the one she caught. _"Five blue ribbons,"_ she thought, writing down her answer.

She then realized that she was probably the only one who could answer that question because one of the blue kunai was in her ninja pack. Everyone was going to undershoot the answer to this question, including her teammates.

But what could she do? It wasn't as if she could simply tell them that there was one more blue kunai. However, she thought closely about the rules and realized that while she wasn't allowed to speak, nothing was said about other ways of passing information.

Taking the blue and yellow kunai out of her bag, she slid both kunai across the floor towards Kaji. Hearing the two knives skidding along the green ceramic, Kaji looked up from his test. His gaze shifted from the two kunai to Hanabi and he grinned. _"Thanks, Hanabi-chan,"_ he thought as he wrote down his answers.

Other genin who spotted the kunai took the hint and quickly changed their answers. Hanabi knew that she had just helped the competition, but at least Kaji and Wasumaru could get the question right too.

"_Alright, so there's one blue kunai,"_ thought Kaji as he answered 'one' for question four.

Wasumaru kept staring at his paper, occasionally scribbling something down before returning to his catatonic-like state.

Hanabi thought about question five. _"There were a lot of kunai with yellow ribbons…seven if I remember correctly…"_ On her test, she wrote down 'yellow'.

Meanwhile, other teams were finding ways to help each other answer the questions. Ino formed a simple hand seal and concentrated on her teammates. _"Choji-san, Sakura-san, in case you need it, here are some of the answers…"_

Yoshiko was struggling with question six. _"Gah, I hate math!"_ she thought desperately, scratching her chin. Suddenly, a line of sand crawled onto the paper and formed a number '96'. Smiling, she wrote down her answer, thinking _"Thanks Tadashi-san."_

Near the back of the classroom, Hinata noticed a bug on her paper. Sitting back, she allowed the bug to look at her answers before it flew to the other side of the room where Shino was sitting. The bug danced on his paper, and Shino nodded. _"Good…"_ he thought, writing his answers down.

Kiba was signaling to Akamaru using his hands. At each question, he would show Akamaru his answer. Akamaru would wag his tail if he was correct, and whimper when he was incorrect.

_"How's this?"_ he wondered, pointing to question seven. When Akamaru's tail swished ecstatically, Kiba nodded in return. _"I thought so; sixty-six genin were eliminated. Good boy."_

At the front of the room, Kisho wiped some sweat off of his brow which immediately evaporated. At Dai and Sayoko's desks, the water vapor formed as tiny droplets next to their papers in the shape of the answers. _"Nice work, Kisho-san,"_ thought Dai as Sayoko smirked.

Head on her hand in deep thought, Hanabi wrote down 'none' as her answer to question eight, but the question after that confused her. _"'What's wrong with this question'?"_ she wondered. It was unlike any of the other questions, but Hanabi quickly spotted the answer and sighed. _"What a juvenile trick; the question number is incorrect…"_

Kaji was in deep trouble. The only questions he was sure about were the second and third. He was so focused on dodging all of the weapons that he didn't bother to count any of them. _"Aw man, what do I do? I'm gonna fail! And Hanabi-chan's gonna be so mad at me! Damnit!"_

With only about a minute to go, Wasumaru was still staring at his paper.

Almost finished with her test, Hanabi looked at the last question. _"Let's see…first we had to deal with eight kunai, the second wave had twelve…then sixteen…and then twenty…and finally twenty-eight. That's eighty-four kunai."_

Quickly scribbling down her answer, she turned her paper over and patiently waited for time to be called, hoping that her teammates were doing just as well.

Kaji sighed, looked at how little time was left on the clock, and wrote down guesses for the questions he skipped. _"I'm dead meat…"_

"And, time!" yelled Baki when the last grains of sand fell from the hourglass. "Pencils down; the sentries and myself will collect and grade your papers. In a moment, we will hand them back to you so you will know your fate."

In a flash, the sentries quickly traveled from desk to desk, taking the papers and pencils as they went. Nearly just as quickly, the sand ninja graded all of the tests and handed them all back out. As her paper was placed facedown in front of her again, Hanabi noticed that Kaji was shaking with fear as he was handed back his test. _"Oh no,"_ she thought.

Hanabi turned her test over, and sighed in relief when she saw that she received a perfect score; her Byakugan had not failed her. However, she glanced at Kaji who had turned over his paper, and saw that his face had paled. _"No, what did he get? Wait…that can't be a '2'?"_

But it was. Looking down at the red number 2 on his paper, Kaji was flabbergasted. Wasumaru had not fared any better; although he correctly answered all of the questions he wrote down, he left seven questions blank, earning him a red number 3. For his part, Wasumaru did not seem concerned at all for his poor score.

After the scores were handed out, Baki said "Those of you who did not earn at least eight points, stand up now, and prepare for the consequences!"

The nervous genin who did not answer enough questions correctly reluctantly stood up, drawing stares from the ones who did. Kaji did so with shaky knees while Wasumaru stood with no expression on his face. Looking around, Hanabi noticed that Madoka was among those that stood up, and that she was the only one she knew who didn't pass this test.

"Right then," said Baki as around a third of the genin were standing in front of him. "I don't need to tell you that you all failed this portion of the exam."

"Wait a minute," said Kaji, "That wasn't very fair! We weren't told that we'd have to remember anything!"

"Whether you were told or not is irrelevant!" said Baki. "Remembering details about an opponent's attack should be second nature to you! That was the point of the preliminaries; to simulate an ambush from the enemy!"

As gasps of comprehension echoed around the room, Baki continued. "If you are attacked when on a mission, what's the point of escaping alive when you can't prepare a proper counterattack? You need to learn everything about your opponent; their numbers, their capabilities, their attack patterns, everything is important! Deaths have been prevented with such information, and when you're leader of a squad, you can't afford to disregard it. If you can't remember details about an attack, then you aren't fit to be a chunin."

"_Of course,"_ thought Hanabi. _"So that's why…The test asked us how many sources attacked us, how many they used, the colored kunai could've represented poison or paper bombs, and how many volleys they used. The ninth question was probably just to see if we could still be aware while remembering."_

Frustrated with himself, Kaji braced his arms against his desk, gritting his teeth. _"So stupid!"_

"This test was not only designed to see if you could effectively remember details about an ambush," said Baki, "but it also tested your ability to pass information when you are distanced from each other behind enemy lines. This is also an important job for a chunin when he's the squad leader. Many of you figured that out, but for those of you that didn't, well, that's where I deal out your penalty."

"All those of you who failed, look around," said Baki. "If all other members of your team are standing as well, then you have failed this exam. Please leave now."

About five teams left the room, crestfallen that they had failed completely. When they had left the room, Baki then said "Those of you who are sitting down and have teammates who are standing up, you have a choice to make."

At this, Hanabi's eyes perked up, along with about fifteen other genin.

"The choice is this; you can save your teammates if you want, but if you do, you will receive a penalty for the next stage of the exam. If you have two teammates in need of saving, you will receive a harsher penalty. This penalty may even prevent you from passing the next stage completely."

Hanabi gritted her teeth, taking a guess at what the alternative might be.

"Or, you can trek on without your teammates, and receive no penalty for the next stage. They will fail, but you will still have a chance of passing the exam," said Baki. "If you decide to do this, then step to the front of the classroom. Otherwise, remain seated."

Kaji breathed easy after hearing that. _"So, it isn't over yet; Hanabi-chan's going to save me and Wasumaru-san,"_ he thought as he glanced at Hanabi. His smile faltered when he saw that Hanabi was in deep thought. _"Isn't she?"_

_"So…it's up to me, is it?"_ thought Hanabi, struggling with this decision.

* * *

Hanabi: You guys need to step it up! How are we supposed to pass if you guys keep making mistakes like this?

Kaji: We're sorry, Hanabi-chan; we won't let you down again. I promise!

Hanabi: Well, I know that much, 'cause now I have the choice to leave you two behind. And no matter what happens, the next part of the test is going to be tougher than anything we've ever faced before.

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

A Lesson in Cruelty: The Depths of the Sandbox!

Kaji: You are gonna save us, right? Right?

* * *

(Inside the Jonin viewing room)

Asuma: *smoking another cigarette* So, our teams are doing pretty well, huh?

Hitoshi: *covering his mouth* Asuma-san, can you please not smoke in here? The air is thin enough as it is.

Kurenai: You get used to it after a while.

Mayumi: Here, these should help. *hands a bag of red crackers*

Hitoshi: What's this?

Mayumi: Homemade rice crackers.

Hitoshi: *eats one, coughs violently* So hot!

Mayumi: Hmph, baby…oh well, at least you're not worried about the smoke. So Shintaro-san, how good do you think your team's doing so far?

Shintaro: …Um, Mayumi? *sulks*

Mayumi: Oh, right…sorry…can't see the monitors, huh?

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Dai Kotoshiba

Gender: Male

Birthdate: July 31

Age: 12

Height: 155.6cm

Weight: 47.2kg

Blood Type: B

Affiliation: Konohakagure

Favorite Food: Tonkatsu

Dislikes: Junk Food

* * *

A/N: Wow, so sorry that this chapter came out a few days late, but there's been a problem with the site that prevented me from updating. I'm not going to blame the admins because, well, frankly, they scare me...

I will try to get the next chapter out in two weeks, but there's been some activity with my potential job in Virginia and I could be busy. I promise I will continue this fic however, so please be patient if the next chapter's a bit late. Please review!


	14. The Depths of the Sandbox!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 14: A Lesson in Cruelty: The Depths of the Sandbox!

Hanabi, along with twenty-five other genin, had a difficult choice to make: either save their fallen teammates and be at a disadvantage going into the next portion of the exam, or sacrifice them and continue on alone.

For a while, no one moved. However, one genin next to Hanabi stood up and walked towards the front of the class, his eyes determined not to look at his team. "Sachi-san, what are you doing?" whispered another genin from a few seats away, but there came no reply as he stood at the head of the room, eyes closed.

Glancing at Kaji and Wasumaru, Hanabi thought about this decision very carefully. On one hand, they failed the first part of the exam. Wasumaru would have failed them all during the preliminaries if it weren't for Hanabi and Kaji protecting him. Maybe they weren't ready to become chunin yet. And what if she didn't take this offer? What if they all failed because of the penalty in the next stage? And what if Hinata passed and Hanabi herself didn't because of it?

But on the other hand, Kaji and Wasumaru were her teammates. It had only been about a month, but they had already been through so much together, and she felt as if she took this offer, she'd be throwing that away.

_"What do I do?"_ she asked herself. _"I can't lose to my sister, but I can't just abandon them. Oh, why couldn't you guys just have passed this part?"_

From about four seats away, Kaji was standing nervously, awaiting his fate. _"There's no way that Hanabi-chan would leave us, right? Please Hanabi-chan!"_

As a few more genin stood up and walked to the front, ignoring the silent pleas from their teammates, Hanabi noticed that Hirosho and Reiko had not moved from their seats, despite the fact that Madoka was standing with an oblivious smile on her face. This came as a surprise to her, as she knew that on day one, Hirosho and Reiko wanted nothing to do with Madoka. _"Do they know something I don't?"_ she wondered.

A total of five genin had accepted the offer to abandon their teammates when Baki said "I will give the rest of you one more minute to decide."

Noting how little time she now had left to make her choice, Hanabi was unaware of the fact that she was drumming her fingers on her desk. In her mind, the mission was clear; she had to beat Hinata. There was no bigger priority for her than that. But could she do it with the penalty imposed on her team?

Kaji was visibly panicked when he saw Hanabi starting to stand up. _"No Hanabi-chan! Please don't do it!"_

Hanabi was nearly consigned to accept the deal, but she stopped herself halfway out of her seat. _"I…I can't do it…"_ she thought. _"It…it just wouldn't be right…"_

She couldn't bring herself to condemn her teammates. After all, Kaji and Wasumaru would have given her another chance if she had failed this test. Hadn't they already proven that, when they came to save her after she and Shintaro-sensei were taken captive by Iwao and the Kensugi brothers?

Gritting her teeth, Hanabi slowly sat back down as Kaji sighed with relief. _"I'd better not regret this…" _she thought, avoiding Kaji's gaze.

_"I can't believe it,"_ thought Kaji, hurt. _"She, she really almost went through with it!"_

A minute came and went, but no other genin stood up to take the offer. "No one else?" wondered Baki aloud. When there was no response, he continued. "If you don't see your teammate up here, you may sit down; we've already marked which teams will be getting the penalty for the next stage."

"And now, I suppose I should get this over with," said Baki with an evil grin as the genin who were standing at their desks were dreading the worst. "Everyone who is still standing has failed this exam! Yes, even you five standing in front of me!"

At this, there was a large murmur throughout the room as the five genin protested. "But, you said we could continue the exam!" said Sachi, just as shocked as most of the genin in the room.

"That was a test to see how you would react to a fallen comrade! Do you really think you have what it takes to become a chunin if you willingly leave a man behind?" asked Baki. "A teammate is wounded in battle, and you cast him aside because he might hinder your progress? Disgraceful!"

Hanabi's eyes widened at what she had almost done. _"He's right…I was ready to sacrifice Kaji and Wasumaru just so I could have a better chance of beating Hinata…"_

Baki then said "In the Sand Village, we believe the mission always takes precedence. However, there is a clear difference between giving up a teammate's life for the sake of the mission and leaving him behind just because he got wounded in battle. If the enemy managed to capture your discarded teammate, what would happen then? Your teammate would be tortured for information, compromising not only your mission, but your entire village as well! If you can throw away your teammate's lives so easily, then not only do you not deserve to be chunin; you don't even deserve to be ninja! Now get out!"

The five disappointed genin in front of him turned and walked out of the room, their teammates following them with betrayed looks on their faces. As they left, Hanabi did not know what to think; before, she wanted to beat Hinata at any cost. But just then, she realized in the nick of time that there was indeed a cost too high. However, she was afraid to think what she might have chosen were she given this choice again.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kaji also wondered about Hanabi. _"She almost got us all kicked out! What is she thinking?"_

Wasumaru was finishing his sketch of the room without a care in the world.

Baki quickly counted the genin; about twenty-one teams remained. "Now that we've weeded out the undeserving ones, the rest of you have earned the right to face the Sandbox depths. I will tell all of you right now that the next stage is a large maze and you will be allowed to fight the other teams. Those of you who completely passed the first stage will be given a full briefing as a reward for your fine information gathering. Those of you who had to save one teammate will be told only your mission objective. As for the rest, you'll have to figure out everything on your own."

_"So, he wasn't kidding about the penalty then,"_ thought Hanabi, gritting her teeth.

"Fine, no problem," thought Kaji aloud.

"My sentries will start escorting teams one by one to their starting positions while I brief the nine teams who passed the first stage," said Baki. "You will stand by for further instructions."

The sentries started picking out teams from the front of the room to leave as a hidden door slid open next to the blackboard. When Temari reached Hanabi, she said "Alright, time to go."

Hanabi stood up along with Kaji and Wasumaru as they silently followed Temari. Nothing was spoken between Hanabi and Kaji as they still avoided each other's gaze. As they left the room, Hanabi took one glance at her sister at the back corner; Hinata's eyes followed her younger sibling with, concern? With a light scoff, Hanabi turned away.

* * *

Their trip into the depths of the Sandbox lead them down a narrow flight of stairs. When they reached the bottom, the green ceramic tiled walls ended, revealing walls and floors of compact, damp sand. And instead of bright lights that illuminated every corner, the hallway was lit by a single light bulb every few meters. The dank air was also noticeably cooler, creating goose bumps on Hanabi's arms.

Every so often, they would pass by a small nook, each one with a small door, presumably leading into the maze. This was confirmed by Hanabi when she occasionally saw a team waiting against the walls of the nook.

After turning a corner and passing about ten more nooks, Temari finally stopped at one and offered Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru to wait inside. "When the door opens, you may begin the test. Just step through and try not to get killed in there, okay?" said Temari with a knowing smile.

"Right," said Kaji, arms folded over his chest in thought.

"Hmm, no over-the-top reaction, huh?" wondered Temari. She shrugged her shoulders and said "Well, whatever. Good luck."

As she left, Kaji was tapping his finger, eyes still in deep contemplation. After a few minutes, he asked "Well?"

"Well what?" asked Hanabi, fully aware of what Kaji wanted.

"You almost made us all fail!" said Kaji accusingly. "I bet it was your sister, huh? Didn't I say don't let her distract you? Didn't I?"

Hanabi looked away as she replied "I know, but I just, I _have_ to beat her."

"And that's worth leaving us behind?" he asked. "You're more concerned about beating her than becoming a chunin!"

"You don't understand," she said, gritting her teeth.

"Oh, I don't huh? Like hell!" he said. "If you've kept your head in the game, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"

Hanabi finally looked at Kaji, eyes narrowed. "Well maybe if you and Wasumaru hadn't failed the last part, I wouldn't have had to struggle with that choice! I thought you guys could help me, and instead…"

"What? Instead what?" said Kaji. "You think Wasumaru-san and I are excess baggage, huh?"

"No, I didn't say that…"

"You don't need to," said Kaji, dejected. "Like I said, I'm not dumb, Hanabi-chan; I can see it in your eyes. Jeez, I bet you forgot about that time when Wasumaru-san, Minori-chan, and I, we tried to break you out of that dungeon. You didn't even thank us."

"We broke out of our cells by ourselves," said Hanabi, wondering when he was going to bring that up.

"So you didn't need us then? We shouldn't have bothered?" asked Kaji angrily.

"No," she said quickly, "that's not what I-"

"Whatever," said Kaji. "You want to fight your sister so bad? Just keep in mind that you're not the only one taking this exam. Damnit!" And he punched the wall behind him.

"…Don't fight…"

Hanabi and Kaji both looked at Wasumaru. It was so easy to forget that he was with them that his voice startled the pair. Yet, he was staring at the two of them with his wide eyes, almost as if he was pleading them.

The three were startled once more when the door behind them suddenly slid open, revealing a large, dark room inside.

"I guess we can go in," said Hanabi, trying to forget the last few minutes.

"Yeah…" said Kaji, seemingly doing the same.

When the three stepped into the square room, they saw that the walls and ceiling were made out of the same compact sand and dirt. Aside from the door they just entered through, there were three other doors, one at the center of each of the walls. And just like the hallways that came before, the room was lit by one bright light bulb in the center of the room.

"This looks promising," said Kaji as he took a step forward, and felt the ground give way as his foot triggered a switch. In an instant, a senbon needle fired from the top corner of the room towards Kaji, who had to twist his body awkwardly to avoid it.

Eyes staring from his foot to the needle behind him, he said "I take that back. This place sucks."

"Byakugan!" Hanabi cried as she scanned the room. "Stay near the walls; all of the traps are at the center of the room."

"Right," said Kaji as he quickly backed away. "So, which door ya think we should go through?"

Looking through each of the doors in turn, she sighed when she saw that the rooms behind them looked identical to the one they were in. "Don't know…" said Hanabi.

"Ya don't know?" wondered Kaji. "Shouldn't ya be able to see this whole maze?"

"Wishful thinking," she replied. "My Byakugan can't see past really dense materials. Wood and paper walls are no problem, but past a few meters of stone or even a few centimeters of metal…anyway, I can see into the next room, but that's about it. This sand's just too dense for me to see any further."

"Man! I thought you could see through anything," Kaji moaned. "Now what do we do?"

Thinking for a moment, Hanabi said "We should take the door ahead; the doors on either side'll take us along the sides of the maze, and I'm sure we're meant to go deeper in."

"Right," said Kaji, less than certain. "Well, might as well not waste any time here…"

The three slid open the door ahead of them after Hanabi coaxed Wasumaru to move, as he was busy sketching the room ("Why would you draw this room, Wasumaru-san? There's nothing in here," wondered Kaji). A small, dark corridor separated the door behind them and the one in front of them, lit only by residual light from two peepholes on either door.

"So, you can see what's in the room before ya go in," said Kaji behind Hanabi.

"Not really," said Hanabi, putting her eye to the peephole. "You can hardly see anything through this; it only covers about a third of the room. Without my Byakugan, it'd be easy to set up an ambush from the corners."

"Well, it's a good thing you do have the Byakugan, huh?" said Kaji. "You'll make sure that we don't get ambushed, right?"

"I can't have my Byakugan up forever, you know," said Hanabi dryly. "My Byakugan uses chakra. Not as much as a high level jutsu, but it adds up over time. I can probably hold my Byakugan up for about an hour per day."

"Damn! So what are we supposed to do if we're in a room and another team spies on us?"

"Just be ready for battle, and don't worry; I'll still be able to scout ahead," said Hanabi as she slid open the next door.

* * *

In another part of the maze, three genin from Kusagakure in green camouflage and white bandanas over their heads were moving through the rooms quickly.

"This is pretty easy," said their leader, a tall boy with black eyes and a pointed chin, as they ran through the next door and into the corridor.

"Yeah, at this rate, we'll be done with this stage in an hour, Aki-san," said his teammate, a shorter, square-jawed boy.

"No one in this room," said the third genin, a girl with short hair and a blue eye at the peephole.

"Right. Katsuo-san, Ren-chan; let's move in," said Aki. Moving swiftly, they opened the door and fanned out in the middle of the room.

Instantly, they knew something was wrong, for the entire room went dark. "What's happening?" asked Ren, panic in her voice.

"I don't know!" said Katsuo, next to her.

"Everyone calm down," said Aki, keeping his composure. "It's probably a feature of the room, like those wire traps we had to avoid in room 3-C."

"Oh, if only…" said an unknown voice.

Three bright spotlights shone on each of the three ninja, revealing that they were each in spiked cages, hanging seemingly over nothingness. "Who are you?" Aki demanded, trying to break free in vain.

The mysterious voice filled their heads with his reply. "I am your nightmares. I have seen into the deepest recesses of your mind, and I have studied your deepest fears. Allow me to show you…"

Ren was quivering with fear as the voice invaded her mind. "You, my dear, are most afraid of bugs. Maggots, creepy crawlies, and most of all, hairy spiders!"

Her silent whimpers turned into screams of terror when her cage was suddenly filled with live insects and tarantulas of every shape and size. Panicking, Ren was frantically shaking the cage walls as the bugs covered every inch of her. "No! Let me out! _Let me out! AHHHH!_"

"Ren-chan!" yelled Katsuo as he tried to reach out to her. But it was no use, as Ren disappeared underneath the growing mound of night crawlers and worms and spiders, her screams slowly being silenced.

"You have bigger things to worry about," said the terrible voice to a shaking Katsuo. "It seems you don't like water very much. In fact, I bet you haven't had a bath lately…I'll soon fix that."

And Katsuo's cage was quickly filling with water from above, somehow being contained within the spaces of the bars. "Aki-san!" he cried in vain before the water level rose to the top of the cage, his arms flailing as he struggled to hold his breath.

"Katsuo! Ren!" yelled Aki, fear etched onto his face.

The voice whispered into his ear. "I've saved you for last. What you fear most is failure. And you have utterly failed your teammates. Your fear right now is palpable, how delicious…"

Disgust filled Aki's face. "What the hell are you?" he asked.

An evil laugh rattled his bones. "What indeed…I am your new greatest fear, and the last face you will ever see… I am the horror that you've been frightened of all your life…"

And Aki's mouth dropped open in terror as a giant pair of glowing yellow eyes stared at the three doomed ninja. Looking up, Aki could also see that the cages were being held by the strings of a marionette, gripped by a massive bony hand attached to a skeletal arm that seemed to stretch forever upwards. A mouth in front of him opened, revealing metal razors as tall as he was, and yelled _"I AM THE PRINCE OF NIGHTMARES!"_

A second hand closed around Aki's cage, and yanked the cage downward so hard that the string snapped, and its prisoner's last wail echoed through the abyss as he was dragged down into hell.

* * *

Opening the door to the room the three hapless genin from Kusagakure stepped into, Shiro calmly walked up to the team, each of them on their knees with a glazed look in their eyes. "It's so much fun playing with them," he said with a devious smile.

"Well it's not much fun for us!" whined Jiro, standing next to his brother. "How am I supposed to enjoy our prey now?"

"There will be other teams, Jiro-san," said Saburo underneath his straw hat. "Although, you did say you'd leave at least one of them for us…"

"Apologies, Saburo-san," said Shiro, "but I just love the feeling I get when I sculpt and shape their minds…each one of them is like a work of art…"

He then took out a kunai and shrugged as he said "On the bright side…"

And his brothers followed suit, each of them taking out a kunai. "Dinner time…" Jiro grinned maliciously.

* * *

Hanabi gasped and perked up her head.

"What is it?" asked Kaji, curious.

Looking around with her Byakugan and seeing no signs of life from the surrounding rooms, she shook her head and said "Nothing…just, thought I sensed something…"

Raising an eyebrow, Kaji shrugged and said "Well, I don't sense anything, right Wasumaru-san? Eh? Wasumaru-san?"

Wasumaru had dropped his pen, his eyes reflecting a distinct aura of fear as he was frozen, pad still in his hand.

"Hey, Wasumaru," said Hanabi, walking over to him and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You alright?" she asked tentatively.

Blinking a few times, Wasumaru briefly glanced at Hanabi. He then bent down to retrieve his pen, and after a small hesitation, resumed drawing on his pad without a word.

Kaji didn't know what to make of it. "Is he alright?" he asked, perplexed

"I think so…" Hanabi replied, not really sure. "I mean, it's not like he's going to tell us, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed, scratching his head. "Well, we'd better move on."

"Okay," said Hanabi. "The next room's pretty interesting…"

As they passed through the corridor and opened the door to the next room, Kaji could see what she meant. This room looked like all of the others, except for what was in the center of the room; on the floor, there were six square plates grouped together in a circle, and in the middle of all of them was a metal safe with six small lights on the door. Around the room were four different iron weights, each with a handle, and a wooden plank with two wide supports.

"What is this all about?" wondered Kaji as Wasumaru started his sketch.

"A puzzle…" said Hanabi. "This isn't here without a reason; I bet we're supposed to solve it."

"Nice to see this maze is playing to my strengths," Kaji sighed. "How're we supposed to do that?" he asked, examining the weights.

"Well," said Hanabi, walking over to look at the weights with him, "I think we need to place these weights on some of these pads."

"Alright then, no sense wastin' time here," said Kaji as he gripped a weight and tried to walk with it, nearly dislocating his shoulder in the process. "Ugh! This thing is heavy!" he grunted, using both arms to lift the weight only a few centimeters off of the ground and inching his legs closer to the first panel. When he finally dropped the weight, the plate pressed slightly into the floor and one of the lights on the safe lit up.

Panting, Kaji looked at the weight again and found a small number '60' embedded on the side. "Sixty? Sixty kilos? Man, that's as much as me! Tell me we can open that safe now, Hanabi-chan…"

"Interesting," said Hanabi, examining the safe. "I can barely make out what's in this thing, the walls are so thick. They really didn't want anyone breaking into this."

Forgetting about the pain in his hands, Kaji asked "What's in there?"

"It looks like, a piece of pottery I think…it's pretty small," said Hanabi. Tugging on the safe's handle, she said "I don't think this is gonna open unless all six of them are weighed down."

"Oh great," said Kaji, throwing his hands up. As he walked over to another weight and tried to lift it up, he said "You've got to be kidding me. Man, that last one nearly broke my back, and now you're telling me- hey, this one's actually lighter…"

He still needed both arms to carry the weight, but Kaji easily managed to maneuver the metal load over the second plate. As that plate sank into the ground, a second light lit up on the safe. Kaji bent down to look at the number on the weight. "Thirty, huh? Whatever, two down, four to go…"

As Kaji went for the next weight, Hanabi looked around and said "There are six plates, but only four weights…and that plank must be for something…"

"We'll worry 'bout that when we get there," said Kaji, taking a third weight. "Hmm? This one's even lighter; I can carry it with one hand. What's the number on this one? Fifteen? Well, I'm not complaining," he said as he dropped it on the third plate.

When the plate did not sink into the ground, Kaji scratched his head and said "Uh, Hanabi-chan? I think this one's broken…"

"Hmm?" Hanabi walked over to him, pressing the plate down with her foot. "There's not enough weight on here…How much does the last one weigh?"

Kaji quickly checked the fourth weight against the wall. "This one's fifteen kilos as well."

Hanabi thought quickly. "The thirty kilogram weight was heavy enough to press down the pad, so two fifteen kilogram weights should do the same."

"Only one way to find out," said Kaji as he brought the weight over. When he placed it on the pad with the other weight, a third light lit up on the safe. "Cool," he said.

"So, each of these pads need at least thirty kilos worth of weight…why is that one sixty?" Hanabi wondered, pointing at the first weight.

"Ya got me…" said Kaji, arms behind his head.

After a few seconds, Hanabi finally got it. "The plank! We're supposed to put the sixty kilogram weight on that so it'll push down two pads. Hold on."

She grabbed the wooden plank and placed it so that each support was resting on a plate. "Alright Kaji, put that weight on here."

"I'm gonna need a little help," said Kaji, struggling to get the heavy weight off of the ground.

Sighing, Hanabi went to help him. With their combined strength, the two of them managed to lift the weight high enough off the ground so they could place it on the plank. When they set it down on the wood, the safe now had four lights lit on its door.

"Well, that's all of the weights…Now's the time to guess how we're gonna push down the last two," said Kaji.

Stepping back for a moment, Hanabi smiled. "Of course, brilliant; two of us can stand on the last two plates, leaving the third to open the safe."

"Ah! Now I get it," said Kaji. "Let's do this and get out of here."

Kaji and Hanabi each stepped on an empty pad, but only one more light lit up on the safe. "Huh? Hey, what gives?" said Kaji, frustrated. "I thought that's what the solution was, so what are we missing now?"

Hanabi looked down at her pad and sighed again. "I guess I don't weigh enough. One moment; Wasumaru-san?"

Having completed his sketch, Wasumaru looked up at Hanabi, an inquisitive stare on his face.

"Can you come over here for a second?" she asked.

Wasumaru paused for a moment, and then slowly stepped towards Hanabi. When he stepped on the last pad, there was an audible click from the safe as the sixth light was lit.

"Thanks," said Hanabi, and she pulled open the safe door. Inside was the small orb-like piece of pottery that she saw. Picking it up, Hanabi felt that it was made out of dark brown clay, and was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.

"Any idea what it is?" asked Kaji, looking over her shoulder.

"No clue," she replied, examining their find. There were some yellowish markings on the orb that seemed to vaguely resemble a face. "It's like, the head of a doll," she said, turning it over. Where the neck should have been, there was a small hole, supposedly for the body of the doll.

"I wonder where the rest of it is…" said Kaji.

"Probably somewhere in this maze," said Hanabi, placing the clay doll head in her pack. "And no doubt there'll be more puzzles for us to solve to get them. Let's move out."

The team pressed onward, led by Hanabi as she scanned the rooms ahead with her Byakugan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yoshiko, Tadashi, and Kouta were all the way on the opposite side of the maze. "That last puzzle was easy enough," said Yoshiko, the clay head of a doll in her hand.

"Yeah," said Tadashi, an uneasy glance at Yoshiko. "But do we really want Kouta-san to lead, Yoshi-chan?"

"I swear you're doing that on purpose," she growled.

"Don't worry, Tadashi-san," said Kouta with a carefree smile. "My sense of direction is infallible."

"You picked the last five rooms completely at random," said Tadashi. "And one of them had bees in it! Jeez, annoying little bastards…"

"The worst is over, I promise. Besides, you only got stung twice," said Kouta.

"Yeah, on my butt!" he said.

"Stop fighting, you two," said Yoshiko. "We can't waste time here. Let's go!"

* * *

The jonin were observing their team's progress on the monitors. As Shintaro was listening to his colleagues on how his team was doing, the dirty-blond Sand kunoichi behind him said "Looks like my team's doing well, although I wonder why Yoshiko-chan isn't leading them instead of Kouta-kun…"

Shintaro turned to the kunoichi. "Yoshiko-chan? Ah, I believe my team met yours this morning. I should thank them for showing my team the way here."

With a smile, she said "I'll be sure to relay the message, Shintaro-san. I'm Kazumi, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," said Shintaro, bowing. "Obviously I can't see you very well, but I'm sure you look quite lovely."

Kazumi's smile turned into a sly smirk. "I hope that wasn't a pass at me; I get that all the time."

"No, I'm serious," said Shintaro, also smiling. "I can tell…"

"Alright, you two settle down now," said Asuma, grinning with his cigarette in his mouth.

"Yeah," Mayumi chimed in, "we're trying to watch the show here."

"And it's hard enough to tell what's going on without sound," said Hitoshi, arms folded.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Baki entered the room. "There's been a problem; one of our missing chunin has been discovered dead."

All of the jonin turned to look at the Sand Jonin, eyes widened and alert at this new development.

* * *

Passing through another empty room, Hanabi, Kaji, and Wasumaru were progressing along the rooms at a steady pace. They only had to stop a few times because of Wasumaru as he was trying to sketch every single room they had passed.

After Wasumaru stopped for the fifth time, Hanabi sighed and said "Wasumaru-san, you know you don't have to draw every room, right? We do need to move quickly here."

Wasumaru looked up briefly. His eyes seemed to widen, and he went back to his drawing, trying to ignore Hanabi's request.

Hanabi sighed again and said "Come on Wasumaru-san, let's go," as she tugged on his sleeve. Wasumaru however could not be moved. In fact, he refused to move, pulling his arm away from her.

"Kaji, can you help me here?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," said Kaji, a little less than enthusiastic.

"What's wrong?" asked Hanabi, glancing at Kaji.

"Nothin', it's just, it sounds like you think he's holding us back," said Kaji.

"Not this again," said Hanabi. "We can talk about it after we pass this stage, now let's go."

"…Yeah," he said, lifting a struggling Wasumaru up into his arms. "Jeez, what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," said Hanabi. Scanning the surrounding rooms with her Byakugan, she said "All of the other rooms are empty Wasumaru-san."

Despite this, Wasumaru was whimpering in fear, clearly not wanting to move from his spot.

Sighing a third time, Hanabi said "Look Wasumaru-san, we'll stop in the next room, how 'bout that? But right now, we need to keep moving."

Kaji had to keep a tight grip on Wasumaru as Hanabi led them into the next room. The corridor was barely wide enough for Kaji to carry Wasumaru through, but as Wasumaru struggled, Kaji kept scraping his own back against the wall.

"Ow! Hey, stop fidgeting!" said Kaji as Wasumaru finally caused him to bump his head. "Calm down, we're almost there!"

Pushing open the door, they stepped into the room, and Hanabi was puzzled. "That wasn't there when I checked," she said.

Kaji could see what she was referring to. In the center of the room, there was a large sarcophagus. There was nothing else in the room, and in fact, it looked like any of the previous rooms save for the ominous tomb. Putting Wasumaru down, he wondered "What's that all about?"

"I don't know…" said Hanabi as she cautiously stepped forward.

Barely able to see over the top of the tomb, she examined the sides and found a safe with one light. On the lid was the word 'Sacrifice' written in what Hanabi suspected was blood. "What?" she wondered.

She nervously pushed the lid open, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud. "What is this?" she gasped.

The bottom of the tomb was lined with razor sharp spikes. Dried blood coated the inner walls of the tomb and the rusty tips of each of the spikes. Hanabi was taken aback. "No way! They're telling us that we have to sacrifice one of us? There's no way we're doing that, right Kaji?" she said, turning around.

"Kaji-san?"

Kaji was looking down, his face hidden from view. "I think that's a fair trade," he said, taking out a kunai.

Fear in her eyes, Hanabi took out a kunai herself. "What are you doing Kaji?"

"It's like what you were thinking earlier…" said Kaji with an evil grin, stepping towards her with malicious intent. "Time to cut the dead weight loose…"

* * *

Hanabi: This maze has gotten us all disoriented! But we will find the way out of here. First however, we've got to fight our way out of this room. On top of that, we're meeting our first team, and they're not friendly, so you definitely don't want to miss this! Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

The Face of Fear: The Mysterious Team!

Hanabi: I'm not afraid of you! I will get out of here!

* * *

(Shintaro and Hanabi are behind a newscaster podium with papers in their hands. A large monitor is behind them)

Shintaro: Hello fans! Today, we're going to update you on the progress of some of the teams in the maze.

Hanabi: So far, our team has only been going in a straight line. Let's see how the other teams decide where they want to go.

(The screen displays Dai, Sayoko, and Kisho, and a 5 by 5 grid)

Hanabi: Team One has decided to take an efficient route by alternating left and right turns.

(A red line traces through the grid in the shape of a staircase. The screen switches to Madoka, Hirosho, and Reiko)

Shintaro: Team Two seems to be moving at a very slow pace. From the video screens, it seems that Hirosho-san and Reiko-san are disagreeing on which path to take while Madoka-chan is dancing aimlessly.

(Hirosho is pointing to the left door and shouting, while Reiko is pointing and shouting at the right door. Madoka is twirling in place, eyes closed. Screen displays "Estimated time: 30 min. per room". Screen switches to Yoshiko, Tadashi, and Kouta)

Hanabi: Yoshiko-san and Tadashi-san are being led by Kouta-kun. Probably a bad idea, since their path is all over the place.

(The 5 by 5 grid has a red line looping through every single room, some of them twice)

Shintaro: Although their team looks good on paper, maybe someone else should be navigating the maze.

Hanabi: *glances at Shintaro* Why are you holding those papers? I thought you couldn't read.

Shintaro: …Haven't we done this joke before?

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Tadashi Saito

Gender: Male

Birthdate: August 15

Age: 13

Height: 167.8cm

Weight: 55.2kg

Blood Type: B

Affiliation: Sunagakure

Favorite Food: Sand Village Kebabs

Dislikes: Calamari

* * *

A/N: Whew, managed to get this on time. Hope that I can get the next one out in two weeks. Don't forget to review!


	15. The Face of Fear: The Mysterious Team!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 15: The Face of Fear: The Mysterious Team!

Inside the viewing room, there were hundreds of monitors focused on the progress of the genin in the exam. However, the jonin had their attention away from all of them, and were focused on Baki.

"What do you mean one of our chunin was killed?" asked Kazumi, eyes widened. "When did this happen?"

"Some time this morning, about a few hours before the exam," said Baki. "One of our guards found the body, or what's left of it. I request that a few of you come with me to investigate this matter."

"Of course I will," said Kazumi.

Asuma sighed and said "I will as well. Kurenai, you stay here and make sure our students are safe too, just in case."

Kurenai glanced at Asuma, and then closed her eyes. "Alright, but be careful. If it was this recent, then whoever did it might still be around."

"I might as well go too," said Shintaro. "I can't see the monitors anyway, but I'm sure my students are doing just fine."

As the jonin left the room, only a few of them noticed that two of the monitors were showing nothing but constant static.

* * *

Hanabi had her back against the tomb behind her, eyes wide with fear. A sadistic grin on his face, Kaji was stepping toward her menacingly, a kunai in his hand.

"You're goin' in that tomb, so we can move on without you," said Kaji, stalking Hanabi.

Hanabi had a kunai of her own pointed at Kaji, her arms shaking. Confused and scared, she cried "No…stay away! I mean it!"

"You've always thought little of me…" said Kaji, taking another step towards her. "You, with your clan and your precious bloodline…You think you're better than anyone else…But I know that I'm the best member on our team, and you're the liability…"

"No! What are you talking about, Kaji?" she pleaded. His voice was dead and soulless; she had never heard him speak like this.

Kaji ignored her and continued. "Fortunately, I won't have to put up with you any longer…Goodbye, my former teammate…"

And Kaji lunged forward, prepared to stab Hanabi in the heart. Letting out a gasp of surprise, Hanabi closed her eyes and thrust forward with her kunai in panic. "Hyah!"

For a moment, there was silence. When Hanabi opened her eyes, she was shocked to find that her kunai was buried in Kaji's stomach, dark red blood staining his shirt around the wound.

His eyes as wide as Hanabi's, Kaji coughed painfully as a trickle of blood dripped from his mouth onto Hanabi's outstretched arm. Sinking to one knee, the kunai still in his chest, he managed to say "I…just wanted…to help…You looked…scared…for a moment…"

Kaji collapsed on his back, breathing irregularly. Hanabi was shaking her head in horror at what she had done, her white eyes looking at the blood she now had on her hands and arms.

"No…" she whimpered as she tried to back away. "No!"

The tomb that she expected was behind her wasn't there. Instead, Hanabi stumbled backwards and fell. When she hit the ground, the dirt broke apart beneath her, letting her plummet into the endless darkness.

Hanabi landed hard on the floor that she couldn't see. Scared and alert, she stood up and looked around, but all she saw was nothingness. "This has to be a genjutsu…" she said, bringing her arms up in front of her.

"Hmm? Interesting…you're the first to realize that," said a calm voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

"Who are you?" said Hanabi, alert for any signs of movement.

"All the others simply broke down terrified. You must be very strong-willed. But no matter now; this genjutsu is unbreakable once you're caught in it…"

"That can't be!" cried Hanabi as she brought her hands together. "Kai!"

But nothing happened. Gritting her teeth, Hanabi wondered _"The release jutsu won't work? And my Byakugan didn't see this in the first place? What is this jutsu?"_

The voice mocked her, saying "I told you so…Nothing can escape from this genjutsu once you're caught in it, and you've been caught in it since before you entered this room. Your mind is now my plaything."

And all at once to Hanabi's horror, she was surrounded by wailing souls, grotesque monsters and demons, fierce tigers with teeth dripping with hunger, and thousands of bats and spiders each as big as her head.

Frozen in terror, Hanabi was rooted to the spot. Wondering why her feet wouldn't move, she peered down and realized that she had been literally rooted to the ground as vines from the void had tied themselves around her ankles and held her in place.

The infinite nightmares closed in on her as the malevolent voice said "Welcome to your eternity…I hope you like it here…I know I will…_WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN!_"

The tigers and demons were almost upon Hanabi with their snarls and their sharp, gnashing teeth, the bats and spiders were tearing at her head, and the whirling souls and their demented cries were stealing her will to live.

"No!" she cried, trying to beat away the horrors with her arms to no avail. She closed her eyes in panic, not daring to look at what was about to happen to her…

…and she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hanabi gasped and turned her head and stared into the blank eyes of Wasumaru.

"_Seishinkatsu…"_

The nightmares faded, the darkness lifted like a fog, and Hanabi was back in the bare room they had entered, sweat pouring from her face. The tomb was absent, and in its place was the boy from Takigakure with bandages wrapped around his head.

Her breath coming back to her, Hanabi looked at Wasumaru, his eyes still staring at her own. "Wasumaru-san?" she gasped.

"Well now, that's no fun…" pouted the boy standing only a few meters from them. "You spoiled my genjutsu, Ichiro-san…"

Looking from the mysterious boy to Wasumaru, Hanabi asked "You saved me from that genjutsu, Wasumaru-san?"

But the boy from Takigakure scoffed and said "Hardly; Ichiro-san simply placed you under a second genjutsu. He knew he couldn't break my genjutsu completely, so he did the next best thing and placed you into a genjutsu within a genjutsu. He just chose the real world as your surroundings. How boring…"

"Why do you keep calling him Ichiro-san?" Hanabi demanded. "His name is Wasumaru!"

The boy laughed and said "So, you haven't told her, Ichiro-san? Oh, that's right, you don't do anything except draw, just like father said. How weak!"

Letting out a small whimper, Wasumaru tried to hide behind Hanabi despite her smaller frame as Hanabi said "So, what did you do to Kaji-san?"

"More like, what did _you_ do to Kaji-san," grinned the boy. "I'm afraid that part was real. Well, the part where you stabbed him anyway…"

Eyes widened, Hanabi turned to Kaji who was still on his back, her kunai still in his chest. "Kaji!"

"Yes, I thought about putting him under a genjutsu as well, but it was so much more entertaining watching you do the honors…"

Hanabi gritted her teeth and nearly charged at him in anger, but a light, familiar voice filled her head. _"You didn't have a choice, Shiro…you don't have the chakra…"_

Hanabi gasped and she glanced at her quiet teammate. "Wasumaru-san?"

Wasumaru's lips were not moving, but he was somehow still speaking to her. _"It's much easier this way…Don't worry about Kaji-san; his best chance now is you defeating them…"_

"Them?" she wondered, about to activate her Byakugan.

She had no need to; the other two members of the team from Takigakure entered the room through the doors on either side of her, each of them wearing a ravenous grin. The stout one with the large straw hat said accusingly "Shiro-san, you tried to take all three of them out again, didn't you?"

"Yeah, you always try and steal our fun!" said the lanky one with his arms under his robes.

His grin matching that of his teammates, Shiro said "Now now, Jiro-san, Saburo-san, I left one for each of you. I've even left you the courtesy of taking care of our brother."

"That you did, Shiro-san. That you did…" said Jiro, laughing eagerly.

"He's your brother?" Hanabi asked incredulously.

Wasumaru shrank even further behind her back. _"No…they were never my brothers…they're scary…please, get rid of them!"_

_"So you're just as spooked by these guys as I am, huh Wasumaru?"_ she thought. Aloud, she asked her teammate "I don't suppose you could help me with them?"

_"I'm sorry…I'm holding back Shiro's genjutsu…" _he replied apologetically.

"I thought so…" sighed Hanabi, dropping into her stance. "Byakugan!"

"Good, she wants to play!" said Jiro, whipping his arms out from under his cloak. "I _love it _when they want to play!"

Hanabi recoiled. The first thing she noticed about Jiro's arms was that they each had a long, thin blade on top of them. She thought that they were tied to his arms, but upon closer look, the blades were grafted into his arms and appeared to be retractable, dried blood marking the spot where the steel met the flesh.

"What the…" she gasped as Jiro lunged forward with psychotic glee.

Twisting her way out of a strike that barely missed her heart, Hanabi wrapped one arm around Wasumaru's waist and lifted him away from Jiro's ferocious slashes. Setting him down against the wall, Hanabi turned just in time to see a giant coiled cobra hissing at her, ready to spring at her.

"Aah!" she cried as she ducked underneath the striking snake, letting it sink its fangs into the wall. She shook her head, and realized that the cobra was actually Jiro, his blade jammed into the rock wall inches from her neck.

Hanabi attempted to counter, but the strike aimed for Jiro's chest fell short as he jumped away. "Lemme guess," said Hanabi to Wasumaru, "if you get distracted, your genjutsu weakens, right?"

_"Yes,"_ came the timid reply.

"Thought so," said Hanabi, taking out a kunai. "But it's the same for Shiro, right?"

_"Yes."_

"Alright then, time for a new strategy," she said to herself, racing towards Jiro.

His red eyes unable to contain his excitement, Jiro said "That's right, come to me! I can't wait to sink these blades into your flesh!"

He struck towards Hanabi, but she had already leaped over his attack in a front flip and tagged his shoulder in mid-air with her bare hand, a thin needle of chakra protruding from her fingertips.

"Aagh!" Jiro growled, sinking to one knee and turning around, a sharp pain in his shoulder. "You little…"

But Hanabi had thrown the kunai in her hand at Jiro's face, who had to deflect it quickly with his blade. Preparing to block a follow-up attack, Jiro was surprised that Hanabi had already taken out a second kunai and was now running towards Shiro.

Instead of being worried however, Shiro smiled at Hanabi and said "Right idea…"

From the side, Saburo yelled "Fire Release: Hellfire Wall!"

Hanabi's charge was interrupted when a large wall of flame separated her from Shiro. The intense heat stung her eyes and skin, forcing Hanabi to back away. _"A fire jutsu? From a member of the Waterfall Village?"_ she thought. _"Just who are these guys?"_

"I guess I'd better jump in if I'm going to have any fun," said Saburo, grinning under his straw hat.

Turning her attention to Saburo, she saw something even stranger; instead of a normal chakra pathway system, Saburo's entire body seemed to be made of chakra on the inside as there was no discernible vein. To Hanabi, it looked like a large glowing sphere.

"What are you?" said Hanabi, kunai in front of her.

"Why does everyone keep asking us that, brother?" said Saburo, offended.

"I haven't the foggiest idea, brother," said Shiro, leaning against the back wall. "It's almost as if they don't believe we're actually human…"

"Yeah, and that hurts our feelings!" said Jiro as he tried to stab Hanabi from behind with his good arm.

But Hanabi saw through the move with her Byakugan and easily twirled away from it. She then had to arch backwards to avoid a swipe at her midsection and she backflipped away from Jiro using her momentum, avoiding a third attack as Jiro's blade was whistling through the air.

Hanabi landed on both feet, prepared to counterattack, but Jiro stepped off to the side, leaving her in Saburo's line of sight.

Her eyes widened as Saburo had already completed his hand signs, his mouth grinning. "Water Release: Water Cyclone!"

A large tornado of water formed in front of Saburo and traveled quickly toward Hanabi, picking up silt and creating a rut in the dirt as it went. Try as she might, Hanabi could not avoid it and brought her arms up to brace for the impact. The mighty cyclone consumed her, lifting her light body off of the ground with ease. Unable to move or see anything, the cone of water propelled her towards the ceiling before smashing her back down to earth, splashing water everywhere.

Drenched and bruised and coughing up water, Hanabi picked herself up, wiping her eyes with her arm and pushing her sopping wet hair away. To her surprise, she still had the kunai clenched tightly in her hand as she stood bravely against her opponents.

"_Hanabi!"_ cried Wasumaru, worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," she replied, although inside she was not too sure. Even with Shiro looking on, arms crossed and not jumping in to interfere, it was still two against one.

"She still wants more…excellent!" said Jiro, rolling his injured shoulder. "I don't know what you did to my arm, but no matter; my arm feels good as new now!"

"What?" said Hanabi in shock as she watched the severed chakra vein in Jiro's arm repair itself at an alarming rate. "No way!"

Letting out an amused laugh, Jiro sharpened his blades against each other. "I'm ready to go again!" he said as he rushed Hanabi, slashing the air with both of his arms.

Gritting her teeth, Hanabi tried to find some way of attacking back effectively while avoiding Jiro's torrent of attacks. _"Severing veins in his chakra system isn't going to work for long, and I don't even know if I can attack the other one; his system is so weird. What am I going to do?"_

Ducking under a high slash from Jiro, Hanabi tried to counter again by sweeping his legs. However, Jiro had leaped away for Saburo to lock onto her. "Earth Release: Earthen Arm!"

Saburo buried his arm into the ground, creating a large column of stone that launched itself towards Hanabi. This time however, Hanabi was ready for it as she rolled cleanly out of the way. Unfortunately, she could not stop the giant stone arm from traveling past her. "Wasumaru!" she cried.

Wasumaru's eyes widened slightly as the massive column of stone crashed into the wall next to him. Eyes closed, he had to shield himself with an arm as shards of rock pelted him, letting out a whimper when a particularly large chunk of rock sent him to the floor.

Her teammate's focus broken, Hanabi's vision was suddenly clouded as the dark fog returned. In front of her, she stared in awe at Jiro, who had grown three times his size. His blades now as long as Hanabi, he was the only one in the room with her, his red eyes glowing with death itself.

Raising his blades over his head, Jiro stared down at her, snake fangs dripping with venom. "I always prefer my meals to be diced!" he said.

Hanabi stepped away, but she tripped on her feet and fell on her back at the mercy of Jiro.

"_Hanabi!"_ yelled Wasumaru.

In an instant, the room returned to normal, but Hanabi was still staring up at Jiro, about to lower his arms to strike at her prone body. With no time to dodge out of the way, Hanabi shielded herself with her arms in vain as Jiro whipped his arms down…

…and staggered back in pain, a kunai in his shoulder. "Argh!" he grunted, blood dripping from the wound.

"Ahh!" cried Saburo, who had also been struck with a kunai, the blade deep in his chest.

Hanabi took advantage of the moment to recover and rolled back onto her feet before Jiro could step forward to attack her again. Gasping, she instantly knew who had thrown the knives. "Kaji?"

Struggling to get to his feet, Kaji was on one knee, the kunai still where Hanabi had left it. Breathing heavily, he wiped the blood from his lips and drew the knife out of his chest, stained and dripping red. He stood up with an exhausted grin on his face, bringing the knife up to guard.

"So," he said, staring at the Waterfall genin before him, "what'd I miss?"

* * *

Somewhere underneath the Sunagakure hospital, the four jonin stood around the autopsy table, accompanied by white-robed medical ninjas. The light-green ceramic walls and the dry, cool air were offset by the corpse that lay on the steel table before them.

"What in the world…" gasped Kazumi. Disgust on her face, she asked Baki "What happened to him?"

"You almost can't even tell it's a 'he' just by looking at him," said Asuma on the opposite side of the table, a slight look of revulsion on his otherwise calm face.

The body, if indeed only because no one else in the room could call it anything else, was a shriveled ghost stretched over bones. The last scream of the victim was permanently sculpted onto the dry, mummified skin of the hairless skull. The only indicators that the once living man had been a ninja were the Sunagakure headband that was loosely tied around his forehead and his pack of ninja tools left unused.

"We're still trying to determine the cause of death," said Baki at the head of the table, a clipboard in his hand. "This body was found several kilometers north of the village walls. One of our guards found it on a routine patrol. The winds had buried the body with sand about halfway, which is how they estimated the time of death. Because this body was not found during the last patrol, we can rule out natural causes…"

"I think I can help you with the cause of death," said Shintaro, next to Kazumi. "This man died of rapid and complete chakra deprivation."

"How do you know that, Shintaro-san?" asked Kazumi.

Shintaro replied "I can't sense any chakra from this corpse. Usually, a faint residue lingers over a corpse for about a day. If he really died some time before the exam, it stands to reason that this man had every last bit of chakra siphoned away from him while he was still alive. A terrible death…"

"Indeed," said Asuma. Looking at Baki, he said "I guess the next question would be, 'how do you know he's a chunin'?"

Baki looked at the clipboard in his hand and said "Believe it or not, we do have enough to go on to identify this man; bone structure, scars, even an estimate of his complexion before he was killed."

He gazed up at the others and continued. "In either case, all of our jonin within the village are accounted for. Those out on missions were not scheduled to return this morning, and they would certainly not take a route that far away from the village entrance. The few male genin in our village who are the same height as the victim are also accounted for. On the other hand, a small number of chunin have not given reports from their missions."

"I see," said Kazumi. "So, when can we expect the autopsy team to identify the victim?"

"It should be soon," said Baki. "But for now, all we can do is be patient and think of how and why this happened. I won't ignore the fact that this could involve the exams somehow."

"While I hope that's not the case, I must admit that we can't ignore that possibility," said Shintaro. "Not after last year…"

The others understood what Shintaro meant. This sudden and mysterious death of a chunin brought back terrible memories of how Orochimaru had turned two allied villages against each other, and had managed to kill both of their Kages, all while using trickery and deception.

None of them were willing to see it happen again.

* * *

On the outside tunnels of the maze, Kankuro and Temari met each other as they were patrolling the dimly lit corridors for anyone who tried to get out of the maze.

"So, how do you think the genin are doing in there?" asked Kankuro.

"Who knows?" Temari replied, shrugging. "All we're supposed to do is keep the genin from escaping through the outer doors. Talk about a boring job…"

"Personally, I don't see many teams making it out," said Kankuro, smiling knowingly. "Gaara may have calmed down a bit since he became the Kazekage, but I can tell he isn't going easy on these kids when he built this place."

"Hmm, yeah, I don't doubt that," said Temari, glancing at the hard, compact walls of sand. Even though she fully knew how capable her younger sibling was, Temari was still impressed with how Gaara was able to build this facility in only a month.

Her attention was diverted when two more chunin rounded the corner, both wearing the standard sand flak jacket. One had short and wavy indigo hair on the sides of his thin face, angling away from his blue eyes. His shorter companion had longer dark-brown hair in a ponytail, accentuating his square jaw and brown, narrow eyes. Even though Temari and Kankuro had only been chunin for five months, they knew the names of all the Sunagakure chunin by heart.

"Kichiro-san, Yutaka-san," nodded Temari, "All clear, I presume?"

Kichiro lightly brushed his hair to the side and replied "Yeah, all clear on that side."

"No surprise though," added Yutaka. "The doors are locked on the perimeter, and there are cameras watching everywhere."

"Which means they're also watching us," said Temari.

"Yeah, Baki-sensei'll be pretty mad if we slack off," said Kankuro with a mischievous grin.

"In that case, we should press on," said Kichiro, motioning to his partner to follow him as they moved past Temari and Kankuro.

"See you on the other side," winked Yutaka as they left.

As Kankuro and Temari also continued on their way, Kankuro sighed and said "I can't wait for this part to be over. At least we'll actually be able to see some action in the next stage…"

"We're just going to have to bear with it, huh?" said Temari, wishing she could see what was happening inside the maze.

* * *

Kaji's breathing was deep, his lungs gasping for air. Blood was dripping from his wound down his clothes, resting to form a small crimson puddle at his feet. And yet, Hanabi was amazed to find that he still had a cocky smile on his face, holding her bloodstained kunai in his hand.

"Oh? So I left all three of them for you after all," said Shiro, an indifferent expression in his eyes.

"So you did, brother," said Jiro irritably.

Although she still had her Byakugan active, Hanabi turned to Kaji, surprise and relief in her shaking voice. "Kaji? H-how are you…"

"Man, I love soldier pills," said Kaji, grinning from ear to ear. "Prob'ly the only thing keepin' me up now…"

"Kaji, I'm sorry…"

"Save it for later," he said, reaching into his bag and taking out another kunai. "I wanna make the most of this one. I spent a week's worth of pay on it after all."

"You little rat," said Jiro, painfully prying the kunai out of his shoulder as dark brown-red blood leaked from the gash. Putting the soaked kunai into his pack, he said "This'll come in handy for later…"

"Oh, this'll come in handy now," said Saburo, who was inexplicably smiling. Hanabi and Kaji were surprised that the kunai did not seem to have any effect on Saburo, the knife stuck deep in his chest. They were even more surprised when his body seemed to be sucking in the kunai deeper into itself. "Ah, that's better…" he said as the kunai disappeared, leaving no sign that he was ever cut by the knife, save for a small tear in his robes.

Hanabi could see the kunai slowly being dissolved within Saburo, the iron being broken down into a small amount of chakra and resting in his body.

"What the hell are these guys?" asked Kaji, puzzled that Saburo was unaffected by his attack.

"I've been asking myself that question since the start of this fight," said Hanabi, gritting her teeth in frustration. "Don't touch him; he can absorb objects, and I'd hate to see what he can do to a person."

"I got that part," said Kaji. "What about the other one?" he asked, jerking his head towards Jiro.

"Other than the blades in his arms, dunno," she replied.

"Right," said Kaji. "What about the loser against the wall there?"

"Don't call our brother a loser!" snapped Jiro.

"It's fine, Jiro-san," said Shiro, still leaning against the wall with an amused smile. "You don't have to worry about me; my brothers will take care of you in due time."

"Hardly," said Hanabi, face determined. To Kaji, she said "He has me under a genjutsu. That's what made me stab you. Wasumaru's doing his best right now to hold it back."

"Ah," said Kaji, still looking at Shiro. "Hey, wait a minute! You mean _you_ made Hanabi-chan stick me with a kunai? Oh, alright, that's okay then…so, after I'm done beating up your brothers, I'm gonna stroll over there and kick your ass!"

"Don't be so sure you can beat us up," said Jiro, pointing his blades at Kaji. "You're the prey here, and it's time for dinner!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," said Kaji. "Tell that to the last team who didn't think they could be beaten by us. Wait, you can't; we left 'em buried under a pile of rubble. Still don't even know who the hell you guys are…"

"Well then, allow me to introduce you," said Shiro. "I'm Shiro, the Prince of Nightmares, at your service," and he gave him a condescending bow.

"Jiro, the Fang," said Jiro, crossing his blades together.

"Saburo, the Devourer," said Saburo, tipping his hat towards the Leaf genin.

"Wow, so scary," said Kaji sarcastically. "Such cute names you have for yourselves, and matching uniforms to boot. Did your dad get you those?"

Red eyes narrowed in fury, Jiro sprang forward and said "Don't make fun of father!" Rage in his movements, Jiro became a whirlwind of death as his blades sliced through the air, causing Kaji to step back bit by bit.

Kaji brought his kunai to guard, but a hard blow knocked one of the kunai out of his hand. "Gah!" he cried as he was knocked to the ground with another blocked slash. Quickly rolling to the side to avoid a downward thrust from Jiro, Kaji crawled to the discarded kunai and used it to immediately block another attack.

"That leaves you for me!" said Saburo, quickly flashing a series of hand seals. "Lightning Release: Divine Ray!"

Hanabi's eyes widened as Saburo pointed his glowing palms at her. She dove out of the way as a lightning bolt shot through the air where she stood and created a deep pock mark where it struck the far wall. Rolling through her dive, Hanabi found herself face to face with a smirking Saburo, who had closed the distance between them in an instant.

"So hungry now…" he said, lunging for her with his arms outstretched.

"_He's fast!"_ thought Hanabi as she quickly leaped away from Saburo before he could grab her. Looking at Saburo's body with her Byakugan, she could see that his chakra supply was nearly depleted like an empty tank.

"_So,"_ she thought, _"he uses his chakra to perform powerful mid-range elemental techniques and to move quickly. And when he runs out of chakra, he tries to absorb his opponents to replenish it. That's disgusting!"_

Saburo's metabolism was unlike anything Hanabi had ever seen. There was no way he was born with a condition like that. Coupled with the way that Jiro's blades seemed to be transplanted, and it made Hanabi think that the team they were up against wasn't born at all.

Rather, it seemed as if they were designed.

"So, you've figured it out, eh?" said Shiro.

"What?" asked Hanabi.

"You've figured out exactly what you're up against. Our father created us to be trained killers. We don't have any qualms, we don't show mercy, and we don't stop until our targets die," said Shiro.

"Targets?" wondered Hanabi. "Who told you to kill us?"

"Oh, don't take this personally," grinned Shiro. "We're only here to test our abilities."

"And to have a snack while we're at it," said Saburo taking a step closer to Hanabi.

"Great," she said to herself as she took out two shuriken, prepared for the oncoming assault.

* * *

The jonin were still gathered around the autopsy table, baffled at the motive of the killer. His arms folded over his chest, Baki said "I can think of one reason to kill only one of our ninja so close to the village, and that is infiltration."

Kazumi nodded and thought aloud, "What this man was doing outside of the village gates is still a mystery." She turned to Shintaro and asked "I don't suppose you could determine if he was tortured for information before his death?"

"I'm sorry," said Shintaro, "I only know how he died, but nothing else."

"Why would they choose to kill this man so close to the village?" Asuma wondered. "Whoever did this must've known the risk of being caught would be high. And why would they decide to leave the body where it was?"

"I have no clue," said Baki. "As I said before, our men found the body a few hours after his death; plenty of time to dispose of the evidence…"

"Unless they wanted the body to be found, to send a message," said Shintaro.

"The Kazekage and all of our jonin are now on high alert. No one is traveling by themselves, not even the chunin," said Baki confidently. "If whoever's behind this really wants to endanger this village or its people, let them try."

Before Shintaro could say anything more, a white cloaked medical-nin rushed into the room with another clipboard. Standing in front of Baki and out of breath, the man said "Sir, we've identified the victim, but…well, look for yourself."

Baki took the clipboard from his hands and looked down at it. "Impossible…" he gasped. "Are you sure this is him?"

The medic gave a sharp nod. "Quite sure, sir; our methods are ninety percent accurate, given the condition of the body post-mortem."

"I see," said Baki. "Double-check to make sure."

"Right away, sir," said the medic as he ran back upstairs.

"Who is it?" asked Kazumi as the Leaf jonin were also listening closely.

"It's Nakata, Kichiro," said Baki, showing a picture of a young man with short indigo hair. "He's one of our chunin currently supervising the exam."

* * *

Hanabi: We're really up against the wall this time. This team from Takigakure is tougher than nails!

Kaji: Yeah, but I'm back in the game, baby! Let's kick their butts, right now!

Hanabi: We're not going to be in it for long however; we've run out of moves. We're going to need a little help for this one.

Kaji: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Familiar Allies: The Price of Aid!

Hanabi: You mean we have to accept help from_ her_?

* * *

(Shintaro and Hanabi are behind a newscaster podium with papers in their hands and bento boxes in front of them. A large monitor is behind them)

Hanabi: It looks like all of the teams are making progress in the maze, but now we're going to study exactly what makes them keep going.

(The screen shows a couple of onigiri, a bowl of ramen, and some fruits and vegetables)

Shintaro: And as any good ninja knows, what keeps a ninja going is food. As you can guess, food is going to be hard to come by in the underground maze, so the teams have to carry their own rations.

Hanabi: Here are some of the lunches that the genin brought with them.

(The screen displays Hanabi and Kaji and a small open bento next to them)

Hanabi: Our team and most of the other teams are going with the standard soldier rations. This compact box consists of rice, a vitamin bar, dried meat, and a side dish, usually a small salad or a piece of fruit. Not the most filling thing in the world, but it contains a days worth of nutrients, and can last on long journeys.

(Screen shows Choji with a large bento box filled to capacity)

Shintaro: Choji Akamichi eats a very substantial bento consisting of grilled pork and beef, rice, onigiri filled with fish, and sauted vegetables. Not ideal for traveling, but I suppose it wouldn't last long in his hands anyway.

(Screen shows Shiro with an evil grin and a black box reading 'Censored!' covering where his lunch would be)

Hanabi: Umm…can we skip this one?

Shintaro: *oblivious* Sure.

(Screen displays Wasumaru and a mish-mash of different ingredients next to him)

Hanabi: …I don't know how he can stomach anything he eats…

Shintaro: …I'm pretty sure we've done this joke before as well…

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Reiko Yakusabe

Gender: Male

Birthdate: November 9

Age: 12

Height: 149.7cm

Weight: 40.3kg

Blood Type: AB

Affiliation: Konohagakure

Favorite Food: Sweet Pork Buns

Dislikes: Spinach

* * *

A/N: Alright, I know this chapter was a week late, but it was due to circumstances that were out of my hands (Anime Boston! W00t!).

But seriously, I've just got my full-time job secure, and it's making me go all over the place. Uptades will probably be slow, but I promise I will get the next chapters out as soon as I can; I've put too much into it to drop it now.

Please review after you read, as always.


	16. Familiar Allies: The Price of Aid!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 16: Familiar Allies: The Price of Aid!

Baki was looking at the reactions from each of his three comrades in the room. All of them were visibly disturbed by the result of the autopsy.

Asuma nearly lost his cigarette. "You mean to tell us that the man on this table is watching our students right now?"

"Impossible," said Kazumi, staring in awe at the report in Baki's hands.

"So the Kichiro supervising the exam is an imposter then," said Shintaro worriedly. "It seems you were right Baki-san; whoever killed the real Kichiro has infiltrated the village."

"Not only that, but the exams as well," said Baki, growling. "And right under my watch…"

"What do we do now?" asked Kazumi.

"That depends on who's involved," said Asuma, stroking his beard in thought.

"Indeed," said Shintaro. "It would be a simple matter if it were just one person involved. If that were the case, all we'd have to do is take out the imposter. "

Raising her eyebrow, Kazumi said "But you think there's more than one person involved…"

It was Asuma who answered her. "I can't say I could think of any reason for one person to go through all of this trouble. If he wanted to assassinate someone in particular, why do it at a time when the village is most populated? And why leave any evidence behind at all? Furthermore, if he was spying for information, why impersonate a chunin watching over the exams? Surely you'd impersonate a higher ranking ninja."

"It could be someone trying to make sure their team makes it through the exams," said Shintaro, "but it would have to be someone terribly foolish. Why not just train your team well enough in the first place? I think it's likely that more people are involved."

"That still doesn't tell us what their motives are," said Baki. "What are the others doing while this imposter walks around?"

"Hmm, can't say for sure," said Asuma. "I wish Shikamaru was here; I bet he could figure it out in an instant. If they need a man on the inside, then they either need information or an assassin. And if there's more than one person involved, then it's likely that their goal has a large payoff."

"The Kazekage is going to be present for the next stage of the exam," said Baki. "But Shikaku should protect him from any assassination attempts."

"Don't be so sure," said Asuma. "There's the Akatsuki to worry about. Although Lady Tsunade informed us that they wouldn't be making any big moves for a few years, we still can't ignore them."

"How likely do you think Orochimaru is behind this?" asked Kazumi.

"That is also a good possibility," said Shintaro. "He does have the ability to impersonate another ninja perfectly, or teach someone how to do it for him. The question of 'why' still remains however…"

Nodding, Baki said "That is why we'll observe this imposter closely for now. This shouldn't be too hard as the chunin are already grouped into pairs. I'll just have them be mindful of 'Kichiro'."

"Wait, why aren't we going to take the imposter out now?" asked Kazumi.

"If we do that, then we won't learn anything," said Shintaro. "Worse yet, his associates will have plenty of time to abort their mission and try again later. If we study the imposter, we may learn about his motives and who he's working with."

"And that's why we shouldn't tell anyone else," said Baki. "Keep this information to yourself once we leave this room."

"Fair enough," said Asuma. "We wouldn't want to tell the wrong person and alert whoever's behind this."

"Let's return to the monitor room," said Baki. "I will inform two of my most trusted chunin about Kichiro."

"How are you so sure you can trust them? They might be imposters as well," said Shintaro.

With a wry smile, Baki replied "I taught them myself; they're competent enough to not be killed in the middle of the desert."

* * *

Hanabi quickly studied the situation in her head.

Wasumaru was currently holding off Shiro's genjutsu, leaving Kaji and herself to fend off Jiro and Saburo. As far as she could tell, Saburo was immune to close range combat and could absorb the chakra of anything he touched. Kaji was left to fight Jiro, and Jiro was fast and furious with his blades while Kaji was already wounded, barely able to deflect and redirect his attacks. The small room they were in was also optimal for Saburo's mid-range jutsus as there was no place to take cover.

In short, the odds were heavily stacked against them. She didn't like that.

"You can't run forever," said Saburo, missing another lunge as he tried to wrap his arms around Hanabi. "Sooner or later, I'm gonna get you. I bet you taste sweet."

"Ugh, get away!" she yelled, throwing both of her shuriken at him.

But Saburo simply let both of them strike his chest, and the shuriken were pulled in, feeding him more chakra. "I appreciate the appetizers," he said gratefully. "Now for the main course…"

_"He can't be invincible," _thought Hanabi. _"I need to try something different…"_

She took out another shuriken as Saburo lunged at her again. When she threw the shuriken this time, Hanabi aimed for his legs. Smirking, Saburo leapt over the spinning blade while Hanabi backed away to a safe distance.

_"He avoided that one? Just as I suspected; his limbs are still vulnerable,"_ she thought. Dropping back into her gentle fist stance, she prepared the chakra in her hands.

Saburo seemed to catch on; he stopped out of her range and said "So, still got some bite left?"

"You bet," she said, blue needles forming on the tips of her fingers. "I may not be able to hit your vitals, but I can still cripple you."

"You're free to try," Saburo replied, bringing his fists in front of him in a forward stance. "But it'll be all for naught…"

Nearby, Kaji sidestepped a downward slash from Jiro and backed away from a forward stab, trying hard not to trip over himself. Despite the soldier pill keeping him standing, his vision was still hazy due to the loss of blood.

"I can feel it; you're getting weaker," said Jiro, pressing his attacks. "First I'll cut you, and then I'll _carve_ you."

Kaji stepped away from another strike and felt his back against the wall. In desperation, he threw a kunai at Jiro, but Jiro easily deflected the knife away.

"Is that the best you've got? You really are finished," said Jiro, preparing to strike the cornered ninja.

But Kaji grinned. "Don't count me out just yet!"

"Huh?" he wondered, glancing to the side. Out of the corner of his eye, Jiro could see the kunai he had just deflected was curving in mid-air behind him, guided by Kaji's chakra through a strand of ninja wire tied to the knife. As the kunai quickly traveled in circles around Jiro, the trailing wire pinned his arms to his sides.

The kunai then flew back to its owner's hands as Jiro struggled to break free. Kaji then planted the knife into the wall and took out another kunai with the other end of the wire attached. He pulled the wire taut and also embedded the second knife into the wall, rendering Jiro immobile. "Tied up at the moment?" asked Kaji mockingly.

"Why you little…ungh, get me out of here!" growled Jiro in frustration, trying to bring his blades to the wire.

"Fine, just hold still," said Kaji, and he took out a paper bomb. His grin still on his face, he slapped it to the wall and flipped over Jiro, leaving him to face the burning tag from only a few meters away.

"No!" cried Jiro in fury.

The bomb exploded, sending rocks and sand everywhere. The kunai and wires were pulverized as the force of the blast launched Jiro back, his front smoking from the heat and pressure. Gritting his teeth for a moment, Jiro suddenly howled in pain; Kaji was there waiting for him to land, Hanabi's kunai buried into Jiro's back.

"Gotcha," said Kaji, his eyes narrowed at his opponent.

"Agh," gasped Jiro as he sank to his knees, crawling away from Kaji with his bare hands.

"Right, one down," said Kaji with relief.

But as he was about to turn away, he heard Jiro laugh wildly. "Eh?" Kaji wondered, "What's the joke?"

Still laughing with a deranged look on his face, Jiro reached for the spot where Kaji was wounded and grabbed a fistful of blood-soaked sand. With his other hand, he reached behind him and drew the kunai out of his back. To Kaji's disbelief, the wound it had left sealed instantly, not even leaving behind a scar. "It's been such a long time since I had this much fun…" Jiro said as he brought the red sand in his hand to his mouth.

"What the?" Kaji gaped, disgusted at Jiro's odd behavior. It was then he noticed that Hanabi's kunai Jiro now held in his hand was clean, as if it was brand new. "You absorb _blood_?" he asked, revolted at the thought.

"You say that as if it were barbaric," said Shiro nonchalantly, observing in earnest. "You don't find it disgusting eating flesh from an animal? Well, we don't think it's wrong to, 'remove' our opponents from the battlefield."

Shaking his head with grimace, Kaji yelled "You guys are gross!"

But Shiro simply shrugged. "To each his own…" he said. To his brothers, he said "Time to finish up here; we wouldn't want to be late for the next stage…"

"Agreed," replied Saburo, flashing another series of hand seals. "Wind Release: Tunnel of Blades!"

As a small cone of wind started to form around Saburo's hands, Hanabi noticed that his aim was off by a meter. Gritting her teeth, she quickly realized with her Byakugan that he wasn't aiming for her.

He was aiming for Wasumaru, crouched against the wall in fear behind her.

There was only one technique that could save her teammate. "Kaji!" she cried.

Kaji's eyes darted towards Saburo, then to Wasumaru. Knowing he only had a few seconds, he brought his hands together. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

As soon as the clone appeared next to Kaji, he threw him towards Wasumaru while the tunnel of air in front of Saburo's hands grew and became violent. Finally, Saburo released the fierce air current towards Wasumaru, slicing up the ground as it went and narrowly missing Hanabi as she dove out of the way.

A strained look on his face, Kaji's clone barely managed to push Wasumaru away a split-second before the vortex of air slammed into him. As Wasumaru let out a small cry when he hit the ground, the clone was cut to ribbons, dispersing in a puff of smoke as the wall behind him was deeply scratched from the aftermath.

When Hanabi rolled back to her feet, she saw that her Byakugan was once again shrouded in darkness. The black fog lasted for only a second, but she gasped as she felt Saburo's arms wrap around her from behind, pulling her body tightly to his chest.

"You're mine now," said Saburo, relief filling his famished face.

And at the same time, Hanabi could feel her chakra being siphoned away from her back. "No…" she said weakly. She couldn't fight it, her arms and legs becoming limp. She was getting more and more tired by the second.

"Hanabi-chan!" yelled Kaji as he turned towards her, trying to help.

But Kaji was stopped immediately when Jiro reached forward and managed to nick Kaji's shoulder with the tip of his blade. "Ah!" cried Kaji as he sank to one knee, suddenly exhausted as well. "What…the..." he got out before slumping to the floor again, his entire body going numb.

"_Poison?"_ Kaji thought, trying in vain to get up.

"Now it's over," said Jiro, stepping over Kaji's prone body and raising his blades for the killing blow.

"Ka…ji…" said Hanabi, no strength left in her voice, her Byakugan long since faded. She could barely keep her eyes open as she glanced from Kaji, helpless on the ground with Jiro standing over him, to Wasumaru, his wide eyes in horror at them both.

"_This can't be how it ends…"_ she thought desperately. _"I still have…so much…to…"_

Before Hanabi could slip into unconsciousness, several thick roots burst their way out of the ground and pulled Jiro and Saburo away by their ankles, making each of them yelp in surprise. Hanabi was dropped to the floor when Saburo was forced to release her with just enough strength left to focus on who had saved them.

Jiro quickly cut away the roots that tied up his legs and angrily asked "Who did that?"

As if to answer him, the door next to Wasumaru opened and Hirosho and Reiko rushed into the room, with Madoka walking casually behind them. Determined looks on their faces, Hirosho and Reiko put themselves between their former classmates and the team from Takigakure while Madoka crouched next to Wasumaru, wearing her oblivious smile.

"Hello Wasumaru-kun," said Madoka gently as Jiro and Saburo looked on, bewildered.

"Who're you three?" demanded Jiro.

"We could ask the same thing," replied Reiko, hands in his pockets.

With brute force, Saburo ripped out the roots tying him down with his bare hands. "You three have no business here," he said menacingly.

"That's where you're wrong," said Hirosho, arms folded in front of him. "Us Leaf Village ninja, we look after each other."

"Fine!" said Jiro, his scowl shifting to a hungry smile. "So, we have to fight you too, huh?"

"Well, not necessarily," said Madoka airily with her innocent smile. "We just want to help our friends up to their feet. But if you really want to fight, then we won't mind…"

Clashing his blades so hard that sparks flew, Jiro replied "Then let's not waste any more time!"

"Hold it," said Shiro, intrigued by Madoka's calm demeanor. _"Not even the slightest whiff of fear…first one I've seen…"_ he thought to himself with an fascinated look. Aloud, he said "We'll retreat for now."

"What?" said Jiro, looking back at Shiro anxiously. "But brother…"

"We can take them too," said Saburo, flexing his hands.

"There'll be other opportunities, don't worry," said Shiro. "Besides, we want to save some of them for the next stage…Especially you, Ichiro-san…"

And without another word, Shiro turned his back and left through the door. Shortly after, Jiro and Saburo reluctantly followed after him. As the door closed behind them, Jiro threw one last vicious look at the six Leaf Genin.

"This isn't over…" he said, disappearing behind the door.

The three genin from Takigakure now gone, Wasumaru wide eyes were still visibly afraid, even as he took out his art kit with quivering hands.

"Never seen him that scared before," said Reiko, staring at Wasumaru as he dipped his pen-brush into the blue and black pallets.

"Never seen him scared at all," said Hirosho, looking on with his friend.

"Come on guys, let's help them," said Madoka, her smile faltering for only a moment as she went to check on her best friend.

* * *

Moving swiftly through the maze with his brothers behind him, Shiro still wore an unusual smile. Pushing another door out of the way, he said to himself "One who was able to recognize my genjutsu, and another who won't show any fear. Father was right; the chunin exams are fun."

Still fuming about their forced retreat, Jiro asked "Then why didn't we kill the genin back there? I'm starving!"

"For once, I have to agree with Jiro-san," said Saburo impatiently.

"All in due time, my brothers," said Shiro. "But if we kill everyone in the exams, then there won't be any exams left, and that would make father very unhappy. Save your hunger for the next stage, my brothers."

Jiro scoffed and said "Fine, but I'm going to feast on whoever I face next. I don't care what anyone says!"

Glancing back with a smirk, Shiro replied "Very well. Personally, I hope I get to face any one of those Leaf Village genin…especially Ichiro-san…"

* * *

Hirosho and Reiko were tending to Kaji's wounds, each of them taking out medical gauze from their packs. Before they could apply the bandages, Wasumaru had walked over and began to apply the paint mixture to Kaji's pierced shoulder.

"Ahh, yeah, that's much better," said Kaji, able to feel his limbs again. "Still, never thought you guys'd help us…"

"Well, it was Madoka-chan who really wanted to help," said Hirosho as he stood back up.

"Besides," said Reiko, "we might not like you, but that doesn't mean we'd let you be killed, especially by those freaks."

As Madoka sat next to Hanabi, she took out a handful of mixed herbs from her pack. Picking out a few small plants, Madoka held them out for her to take. "Chew on these for a while, but don't swallow them," she said kindly.

Her chakra nearly depleted, Hanabi weakly managed to sit up. She gratefully took the herbs and said "Thanks, Madoka-san…"

Still smiling brightly at Hanabi as if she had not almost died a few moments ago, Madoka simply said "You might not like the taste, I'm sorry."

Hanabi stared at Madoka for a moment, wondering what was going on behind her warm green eyes, before putting the herbs in her mouth. She tried not to grimace as the herbs were very bitter, but as she chewed on them, Hanabi could feel her chakra slowly returning to her, like sitting next to a fire on a winter's night.

"You should rest afterwards," said Madoka. "Those herbs have special enzymes that stimulate your chakra, but only for an hour or two."

Hanabi nodded as she sat cross-legged on the cold ground, silently chewing the herbs until they had no flavor left. When Madoka finally said "You can stop now," Hanabi quickly obliged, spitting them out to the side.

Wiping her mouth on her arm, Hanabi asked her quirky friend "How did you find us?"

Covering her mouth with a small giggle, Madoka pointed to a spot behind Hanabi. Raising an eyebrow, Hanabi turned her head and spotted a solitary yellow flower in the corner of the room.

"A flower? But there's no sunlight here," she wondered aloud as she turned her head back. "Madoka-san, you did that?"

Her bright smile answering for herself, Madoka said "Not many people know this, but plants can respond to sounds. With my chakra, I can tell if things are violent near that flower, and I've made a lot of them."

Hanabi understood; that was Madoka's way of making sure the rooms her team ventured through were safe. Wondering how Madoka's smile was devoid of concern and dread, Hanabi had to admit that she was impressed with her best friend.

"Kaji-kun needs a bit more help," said Madoka as she skipped over to him.

"Yeah," said Hanabi silently.

Sighing, Hanabi bit her lip at the thought of being saved by someone who she didn't give much credit to back at the academy. She then looked at Wasumaru, her own teammate who was now sketching the five of them, and she remembered how useless and weak she once thought of him. Admittedly, she thought he would hold her back not too long ago. And yet, she and Kaji would probably be worse than dead if not for him.

She then shifted her gaze to look at Kaji as he painfully sat up, somehow managing to grin at Madoka. Hanabi never once considered the possibility that Kaji could be better than her, or even that he was her equal, yet it was Hanabi who had nearly killed him. Even if it was by a genjutsu, she allowed herself to be caught in that genjutsu in the first place.

As she looked at her teammates, Hanabi thought back to the cruel decision that was placed in her hands a few hours ago. How could she even consider leaving her teammates behind? What kind of fool was she to think they were useless? All this time, she took their presence for granted, never really appreciating their help until now. She hung her head and thought _"I wonder what Shintaro-sensei would say to me…if he knew what I almost did back there…"_

Madoka held out a few colorful herbs for Kaji to take. "Here you go Kaji-kun; this should perk you right up."

"Thanks," said Kaji, putting the herbs in his mouth. "Whoa, these are really sweet…"

Smiling as widely as ever, Madoka said "Glad you like them."

But Kaji coughed and said "No, I mean, these are really too sweet! I feel like I'm chewing on syrup…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Madoka. "Those herbs have a lot of sugar in them. You should rest for a while as well. Hmm?" She turned her head to Hanabi and tilted her head. "What's wrong?"

Looking up, Hanabi found that her eyes were tearing up and she quickly wiped them on her arm. "Nothing," she replied as she walked over to join the rest of the genin. She knelt down next to Kaji and examined his bandaged wound with a pang of regret. "I'm sorry…" she said to him.

But Kaji waved it off with a weak grin. "Ah, no problem. Wasn't your fault, right? Besides, you know me; I'm tough! Ow…" he said, grasping his chest.

Hirosho stood up and said to Hanabi "So, to business. You guys figure out what to do yet?"

Turning to look at him, Hanabi thought carefully before she replied "Not really…we were kind of sidetracked by Shiro and his brothers. Why?"

It was Reiko who stood up and answered her. "Well, we need all the help we can get. Truth be told, one of the reasons we helped you just now was because we wanted to get something out of it."

Eyebrows raised in surprise, Kaji jumped up and said "What? I mean, we're grateful and everything, but d'ya really have to milk it for all it's wor- ow…" and he sat back down.

Hanabi sighed and said "It's alright Kaji, I thought I saw this coming." To Hirosho and Reiko, she asked "What did you have in mind?"

As Hirosho and Reiko glanced at each other while Madoka stood behind them, Hirosho said "We could tell you the goal of this stage in exchange for, um…"

"Anything you may have found in this maze," said Reiko in a way that made Hanabi think they were choosing their words carefully.

Sighing, Hanabi knew there was indeed something she had that she could trade for this information; the clay doll head that sat in her ninja pack. She thought very hard about this: there was absolutely no doubt that they needed this doll head, but there was no way of knowing if the head was all they needed or if they needed to find the rest of the doll, or even if there was something else they needed to do beyond that.

Stealing a brief glance at her teammates, she opened her pack and pulled out the small brown doll head. "I assume there are more of these in the maze?" Hanabi asked before holding it out.

"Yeah, of course," said Reiko as he took the head from her hand. "Perfect; it's the one we needed," he said as he tucked it away in his pack.

"Man…we worked hard for that," said Kaji from the ground.

Hirosho ignored him and said "A deal's a deal. To pass this stage, you have to find three pieces of the doll. There's the head, the torso, and the legs. You put the doll together and find the exit to the maze, which is somewhere in the middle. We have a full day to do this in."

"That's all we were told," said Reiko as his team prepared to leave.

"It's possible that the teams who were given the full briefing were told where the exit was along with the dimensions of the maze, and how many pieces of the doll are hidden in here," said Hirosho.

Hanabi gave a slight nod, but she wondered if giving up a piece of the doll just to find out they needed three was really worth it. Nevertheless, she said confidently "Alright, thanks guys. We'll see you after we get out of this maze."

"Looking forward to it," Hirosho replied as he left with his friend.

Madoka bowed to Hanabi and her team, still with a smile on her face. "Bye Hanabi-chan, Kaji-kun, Wasumaru-kun," she said to each of them, before running after her partners. "See you later!"

Watching as they left, the door closing behind them, Hanabi thought to herself _"I hope so…"_

Sighing as she sat down, Hanabi laid on her back next to Kaji, resting her head on her arms as she tried to preserve what little chakra she had left.

Kaji also laid on his back and whistled. "Whew. Close one, huh? I can't wait to get a second chance at those three. How 'bout you, Hanabi-chan?"

But Hanabi paid no attention as she was staring up at the lone bulb hanging from the ceiling, thinking about what Kaji said to her before they entered the maze. Finally, after a moment, she said "Thank you…"

Kaji picked his head up to look at her. "Huh? For what?"

Hanabi turned to look at Kaji. "You know, for trying to save me back at the castle. You're right…I never said it, but I just figured saying it late's better than never…"

Speechless for a second, Kaji grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "Hey, no problem."

"Yeah," she said. "And, I couldn't have asked for better teammates. You and Wasumaru-san…I'm glad we're on the same team. Right Wasumaru?" she asked, looking on the other side of Kaji where Wasumaru was sitting, still sketching. He lifted his head for a moment, gave a slight nod in response, and went back to drawing.

Kaji nodded and said "Thanks. You're not just sayin' that 'cause we almost bit it back there, are ya?"

"Well," said Hanabi guiltily, "I didn't want you to die thinking that I didn't appreciate you guys."

"Just glad to hear ya say that, Hanabi-chan," said Kaji, a gratified smile on his face as he laid back on the ground.

Hanabi also smiled as she rested on the ground, glad that any animosity they had between them was gone now. Through thick and thin, the three of them entered as teammates. They would leave as friends.

* * *

Temari sighed as she passed the same faint light bulb for the fourteenth time. Picking the kunai out of the wall where she left it last time, she said aloud "That's fifty-six lights, two of them not on. If we go around again, I can probably tell you how many stones there are in the walls."

"Tell me about it, talk about boring…" said Kankuro, his arms over his head. "None of the genin would be dumb enough to try and get out of the maze this way. This is the last time I'm volunteering for this job. Nothing interesting has happened yet."

Temari had her mouth open to reply, but she was stopped when Baki's voice came in through her earpiece. "Temari, Kankuro, do you read?"

Glancing at her brother, Temari said "Yes Baki-sensei, what is it?"

"Keep an eye on Kichiro-san and stay alert," said Baki. "The village patrol found his body earlier today. He's dead."

Temari and Kankuro were rarely surprised, but that statement from their former teacher drew shocked looks from both of them. When they heard footsteps around the far corner, the two siblings exchanged glances.

"We understand," said Temari, as Kichiro came into view with a friendly smile, with Yutaka following closely behind.

With a quick look to her brother, Temari muttered "You wanted things to get interesting…" before they walked towards the imposter, ready for anything.

* * *

It had been an hour since they rested, but Hanabi and Kaji had agreed that they had to keep moving. They may have had twenty-four hours since the start of the exam, but with only a limited number of doll pieces in the maze, they had to find them before they were gone.

Hanabi had her Byakugan off, trying to conserve chakra as they passed through each of the rooms. At each new room, Kaji would quickly throw in a kunai with a piece of paper attached, pretending to be a paper bomb. If the room was silent, then they knew it was safe to enter. At this rate, they could not afford another battle.

Passing through their fifth room without encountering an opposing team, or anything except a blank room, Kaji asked Hanabi "When do ya think we're gonna find another doll piece?"

"I don't know," admitted Hanabi. Her heart began to sink, wondering if all of the pieces were really taken by now.

When they got to the end of another corridor however, there was a glimmer of hope. "Hey, I can see something in there!" Kaji whispered excitedly.

"Finally," sighed Hanabi as Wasumaru looked on with his wide eyes. "Clear the room."

Taking out the kunai, Kaji reached for the door and said "Alright, here goes…"

The knife sailed into the middle of the room and Kaji quickly shut the door behind it. When they didn't hear anything, Kaji opened the door all the way and looked around. "All clear," he said.

The three stepped into the room, and Hanabi's eyes darted around as Wasumaru and Kaji walked by. The room looked like the others, save for a floor safe in the middle, and four colored dials, red, yellow, green, and blue, on the walls, one for each of the doors.

Peering at the closest red dial, Hanabi could see the numbers on the dial ran from 0 through 9, and the tiny pointer engraved on the wall was set to zero. "I wonder what this means," she thought aloud.

From the center of the room, Kaji groaned "Aww man…"

"What is it?" asked Hanabi as she walked over to him.

An exasperated look on his face, he pointed to the safe, which had a message engraved on the door: "Do you _still_ remember?"

"Remember what?" asked Kaji, scratching his head maddeningly with both hands. "I have no clue what this thing's talkin' about!"

Taking a second look around and noting the colored dials, it didn't take long for Hanabi to figure it out. "The colored kunai from the beginning," she said, her hand on her chin in thought.

"What?" Kaji exclaimed. "Please tell me you do still remember; I don't think I got any of those right on the test…"

"Shh, I'm trying," said Hanabi. "Let's see…there were five blue kunai and no green kunai… they asked us that directly on the test."

Turning towards the yellow dial, she said "I remember that there were more yellow kunai than any other color…seven I think. As for the red kunai…" Hanabi thought for a while, trying to replay the entire preliminary round in her head.

"There were three…" said Hanabi firmly.

Nodding, Kaji pointed to each of the dials in turn. "So, three, seven, zero, and five, right?"

"Yeah," she said with confidence as she approached the red dial. Gripping the dial firmly, she tried to twist the dial to '3', but the small knob had an incredible amount of resistance behind it. "Come on…" grunted Hanabi as the ridges of the dial dug into her fingers. Eventually, the number '3' hovered over the pointer, and she let go of the dial, shaking her hand to fight off the pain in her fingers.

Kaji was at the blue dial and was having the same problem. "What the hell?" he grunted, twisting the knob with both hands. "Why, is, it, so, hard, to, turn, this, thing?" he strained until he finally let go, clutching his fingers

"I guess that's their way to prevent people from just guessing," said Hanabi dryly as she moved to the yellow dial. Twisting the opposite way, her fingers cried out in pain as Hanabi did her best to ignore them, forcing the number '7' over the small arrow.

An audible 'click' came from the safe as Kaji excitedly opened it. His grin soon turned into agony. "No way! It's empty!"

"What?" said Hanabi in disbelief as she rushed over. But sure enough, the safe was laid bare; nothing remained in the cold metal box.

Her features fell. "I guess someone must've taken it," said Hanabi.

Frustrated, Kaji kicked the safe closed. "Man, don't tell me that we're not gonna make it after all o' this!"

Hanabi was about to tell her team to move on, but the sound of the far door sliding open stopped her. She and Kaji immediately brandished their weapons as they were prepared for whoever came through that door. Ready to activate her Byakugan, Hanabi was half expecting Shiro's team to come through and try to finish them off.

The person who did step through however made Hanabi gasp. "Hinata-sama…"

A slightly shy look on her face, Hinata walked into the room, her hands clasped nervously together. Right behind her, Kiba stared at Hanabi and Kaji wearing his black leather jacket, subconsciously petting Akamaru. On her other side, Shino stood wordlessly with his hands in his pockets, all but hidden underneath his long coat and sunglasses.

"Hanabi," said Hinata in an uneasy voice, addressing her sister.

"Yes, Hinata-sama?" asked Hanabi, not putting her kunai away.

Noting how exhausted her younger sibling looked and how wounded her teammate was, Hinata said "I, I heard your team was having trouble with this stage, and, well, I wondered if you wanted some help…"

Reaching into her ninja pack, Hinata gently pulled out a small clay head exactly like the one Hanabi had about an hour ago, which immediately grabbed Hanabi and Kaji's attention. With an encouraging smile, Hinata said "I, could give this to you…we already have one, so, we really don't need it…"

Kaji exclaimed "No way! You're seriously gonna give us that?"

Scoffing, Kiba said "You should consider yourselves lucky that Hinata wanted to help. Shino and I thought we should destroy it; makes one less for other teams to find. Besides, if you guys really needed help, then you don't deserve to make it past this stage." Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Hey, anyone can have bad luck," Kaji retorted. "We just had to deal with a few bumps on the way, that's all..."

Shrugging, Kiba said "Yeah, well anyway, Hinata's only going to give that piece to her sister if she'll accept it. If she doesn't want it, then we'll be on our way."

"Is that so?" said Hanabi through gritted teeth. On one hand, her team needed all the help they could get, and this could be their last chance at getting the head of the doll. But Hinata was the person that Hanabi wanted to beat. She wanted to prove to herself that she was the stronger heir. How could she do that if she willingly accepted help from Hinata?

Kaji sighed and glanced at Hanabi. "I guess it's up to you then, but we could really use that piece."

"I know," she replied impatiently, glaring at her sister. "It's just…it's just hard…"

In his quiet tone, Shino said to her "You should let go of your pride. Why? Because pride can hold you back."

Hanabi thought hard about Shino's words. _"Indeed…the price I would pay for accepting help from Hinata is my pride…It seems so easy, but I don't think I can do it…"_

But then, Hanabi was reminded of something someone else had told her. Thinking back to when she and her team were made genin for the first time, she remembered Shintaro-sensei's words to them all: _"__Ninjas cannot seek personal glory, or the mission will be compromised."_

Finally lowering her kunai, Hanabi sighed. She knew that her decision not only affected her, but her teammates as well. Recalling what Kaji had said at the start of this stage, Hanabi admitted to herself that she was not the only one taking this exam. If she refused Hinata's help, her whole team could suffer because of it.

Although it was physically painful for her to do so, Hanabi walked over to Hinata and reluctantly took the doll head from her hand. "Thanks," she muttered as she stepped back, refusing to look at her sister's eyes.

Hinata replied with a melancholic smile that made Hanabi narrow her eyes. It was just like the look she gave her when they left the examination room in the first stage, and it still offended Hanabi even now. It was as if she pitied her.

Grinning at the older team, Kaji said "We're not gonna waste this. See ya in the next stage!"

Returning the grin, Kiba replied "Yeah, if you find the rest of them on your own," and Akamaru barked in response. "Alright, let's move on," he said as Team Kurenai swiftly left the room through the door they came in. Before the door closed, Hinata stole another glance at her sister, that same smile on her face as she turned away to join her teammates.

"_Don't you think that this changes anything between us, Hinata,"_ thought Hanabi, pocketing the piece of the doll. _"I'll get the chance to prove that I'm better than you, and I won't mess it up!"_

* * *

Kaji: One down, two to go! Finally, we're makin' progress!

Hanabi: But we're not out of the woods yet. You can bet the last two pieces won't be just laying around.

Kaji: And if we do find 'em, you can bet the other teams won't want us to keep 'em. But bring 'em all on I say! Nothing's gonna stop me from becoming a chunin!

Hanabi: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

The Way Out: Doll Hunt and Roadblock!

Hanabi: I've swallowed my pride, and I'll make sure it won't be for nothing!

* * *

(Shintaro and Hanabi are behind a newscaster podium with papers in their hands. A large monitor is behind them)

Hanabi: And now to check on the progress of the teams that are remaini-

Kaji: *interjects from the side* Hold it!

Hanabi: *narrows eyes* What is it, Kaji-san?

Kaji: How come I haven't been showin' up on these segments lately? I should get a turn! I can read the news, make jokes, and entertain people! What gives?

Shintaro: Well then Kaji-kun, you can take my spot if you want…*offers seat to Kaji*

Kaji: Alrighty then! Let's see what we got here! *takes seat, squares up the papers*

Kaji: Ahem…*squints at paper, mumbles* number of doll pieces remaining…number of rooms traveled per team…number of minutes spent in the maze…*throws papers* This stuff is boring!

Hanabi: *exasperated* Well this is…was…a news report of the second stage. The people need to know these things.

Kaji: Yeah right! Is this what you guys've been doing? Man, if I was in charge of these segments, then this show'd be a whole lot more cooler! I'd make this segment be the part where I go into detail about all of my latest battle plans and techniques…

(Kaji rants on while Wasumaru sneaks in unnoticed, and paints a small purple dot on the back of Kaji's neck)

Kaji:…Why, with me doin' this whole segment, things'd be a lot more…a lot…more…*falls asleep on desk*

Hanabi: Thanks Wasumaru-san. Unfortunately, wasn't fast enough to save this segment. Until next time!

* * *

Character Profile

Name: Kouta Nanami

Gender: Male

Birthdate: December 29

Age: 13

Height: 152.8cm

Weight: 45.1kg

Blood Type: A

Affiliation: Sunagakure

Favorite Food: Peeled Apples

Dislikes: Omuraisu

* * *

A/N: I know it's been a month, but it looks like this is really going to be the pace of the updates now that I have half the time to write due to my new full-time employment (not that I'm not thankful…finally got a place of my own.)

I'll try to make the updates sooner, but like I said, I only get about an hour to write every night, save for weekends. Read and review as per usual!


	17. The Way Out: Doll Hunt and Roadblock!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 17: The Way Out: Doll Hunt and Roadblock!

Passing through yet another empty room, Hanabi was leading Kaji and Wasumaru, frantically trying to find another opportunity to gain a piece of the doll. She was also trying to forget what happened a few minutes ago; she couldn't brush away the irritating fact that the only reason they still had one doll piece was because she had to accept help from Hinata.

"Only two more to go," Kaji panted from behind, carrying Wasumaru as he was sketching with his pad on Kaji's head.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Hanabi said "Don't remind me…I still can't believe I did that…"

"Hey," said Kaji as they passed another empty room, "I know you're mad at your sister and everything, but she didn't seem ta feel the same way 'bout you. Mind explainin' that to me? Y'know, since it almost cost us twice now…"

Stopping for a minute, Hanabi took a deep breath to calm down. For a long time, she had always kept her problems to herself, and she wanted it to stay that way. However, she admitted to herself that Kaji had a point. At the very least, she could tell him the reason why she needed to best her sister in this exam. "Alright then," she said, stopping in the middle of a room. "We'll take another rest here…"

"Sounds good," Kaji replied. After he let Wasumaru down to draw on the floor, he sat cross-legged on the cold ground. Gingerly rubbing his chest, he said "So, why do ya wanna fight her so bad?"

Sitting on the floor herself, Hanabi took another deep breath, and began. "Everyone knows my sister and I are the heirs to the Hyuga clan. What a lot of people don't know is that my sister was originally going to be the sole heiress to the clan."

"But, she was weak, back then anyway," said Hanabi, arms resting on her legs as she recalled her memories from years ago. "Even though I'm five years younger than my sister, back then, I easily won all of our sparring matches…I trained harder and longer than her…I showed determination, while she cowered away. Eventually, my father had given up on her, and focused his attention on me."

"It was like a double-edged sword," she said, remembering the aches and pains of her training. "While I was proud to be the new heir to the clan, my father pushed me harder than ever before. There were nights where I couldn't sleep, because it hurt to do so…but I knew the next morning, I would have to train as hard as I did the day before."

"Then…about a year ago, my father welcomed my sister back into the household," and she clenched her fists without noticing. "It, it just happened one day. I guess father must have seen something in her then…because he had us spar against each other one more time."

She closed her eyes in anguish, remembering the day that everything changed. "She was completely different than she was all those years ago. She was faster than me, unbelievably so…I couldn't hit her, not even once. And it was so frustrating! When did she get so much stronger than me? How?"

Hanabi briefly stopped, realizing that she was speaking more to herself than to Kaji. Glancing at her teammate, who had been listening intently, not saying a word, she continued. "My father started training her again, along with my cousin, Neji-sama…he wouldn't train me anymore. And, and I started to think that Hinata had taken back the honor of being the sole heir to the clan."

"And I resented her for it!" she said to the ground. "What did I train so hard for? My whole my life was work, every single day of it, and it was all for nothing? I can't accept that! She looks at me like she feels sorry for me, but I don't need her pity! I'll prove to my father that I am the rightful heir, that I am stronger than Hinata, and what better way to do it than to become a chunin before her? Right in front of his eyes?"

For a moment, nothing was said. All was quiet in the room. Even the subtle sounds of pen strokes were absent, for Wasumaru had stopped drawing, seemingly giving all of his attention to Hanabi.

Finally, she said "That's why I want to pass this exam. At the very least, I want to beat her. I _know_ I can beat her. I want to prove it to my father…and to myself…"

As the room fell silent, she thought that Kaji would be angry at her, start yelling at her for being so stupid. Instead, he slowly nodded. "Yeah…I can understand that…"

Surprised, Hanabi glanced over at Kaji, his eyes staring at the wall as he said "I'm part of a clan too…sorta…my dad expects me to lead it one day, but I don't really wanna. I wanna help the village in my own way, and one day, my clan won't have ta do what it's doin' right now. Of course, my dad doesn't really like that…"

A smile on his face, Kaji glanced back at Hanabi. "I might not know much about the Hyuga clan, but I do know how hard it can be to impress your old man…matter of fact, I'm still tryin' to impress him."

He stood up, looking down at Hanabi with a friendly grin. "But I don't let it get in the way. Like I said, there'll be a time for that, but you always gotta focus on the problem that's right in front of you. And right now, we need two more pieces of that doll."

Turning her head to look at him, Hanabi slowly smiled back. "Yeah, and we'd better hurry."

As she got back to her feet, Kaji rummaged through his bag. "Here, catch," he said, tossing a dark-blue capsule at Hanabi, who quickly caught it.

"A soldier pill?" she wondered, eyeing the small pill in her hand.

"Yeah, my last one, but I figured you earned it," said Kaji. "Besides, I know you're still low on chakra, and if we're gonna find anythin' in this maze, we're gonna need your Byakugan."

Hanabi didn't know what to say; she knew that soldier pills weren't cheap, and for Kaji to give up the only one he had left? Smiling at him in gratitude, she said "Thanks," and popped the tiny pill into her mouth.

Almost in an instant, the effects hit her. She was no longer tired. In fact, it was as if she had just woken up to a brand new day, energy filling every inch of her body. "Wow," she gasped as her eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I know," said Kaji, his grin even wider. "First time, I take it?"

"Father didn't exactly have these everywhere in the house, although now I wonder why," she replied, shaking her hands in ecstasy. "Alright, better not waste this; Byakugan!"

Looking around, Hanabi quickly found that the soldier pill also enhanced her Byakugan; she could now see two rooms ahead in each direction and in clear detail. "Wow," she said again, shifting her gaze down each path, staring through the thick sand walls, "I like this."

To her left, she saw a room with a giant scale in the middle with several weights around the base. She had so much chakra that her Byakugan also saw that there was a safe at the base of the scale, and she could vaguely make out a small shape within. "This way!" she said, bolting for the door.

"Right behind ya," said Kaji, stopping only to pick up Wasumaru onto his back. "Maybe I just should've given her half…" he said to himself as Hanabi quickly disappeared behind the door without waiting for them.

With Wasumaru sketching on his head once more, Kaji ran after her, passing through another empty room before finally catching up to her in the next. Both of them stood before the giant scale that nearly took up the entire room. "Whoa…what is all this about?" he wondered, setting Wasumaru down again.

Now that Kaji and Hanabi were actually in the room, they could see that the large metal scale had two wide, flat, circular pans perfectly balanced on either end. Thick support beams kept each of these pans about a few meters above the ground, well over Kaji's head. There were also two sets of narrow stone steps leading up to each of the pans, and the steps themselves were very thin; Hanabi guessed that they were slightly smaller than even her feet.

Surrounding the scale were eight stone blocks that varied in size, each of them with two sets of handles and numbers engraved on them. Hanabi also noted that the safe had the number '1000' imprinted on the door with two red lights below, one of them on.

"Looks simple enough; we just put these weights on the scale to balance it," said Hanabi, peering into the safe. "And there's another piece of the doll in here…looks like the body and arms."

"Uh, Hanabi-chan…" said Kaji, staring at one of the weights.

"What is it?" she asked, still examining the safe.

"This weight's a hundred and fifty kilograms…" he said, pointing to the small number engraved on the side.

That made Hanabi turn around, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. "That's more than six times heavier than me…" she said.

"You're tellin' me!" said Kaji, looking at the pans above him. "I could probably move this by myself, but getting it up there?"

As Kaji moved over to each of the other weights, he called out the rest of the numbers. "One hundred…seventy-five…one-fifteen…one-thirty-five…one-ten…one-forty…one-seventy-five!" On the last weight, he simply shook his head silently, his mouth agape.

"One thousand kilograms," Hanabi nodded to the safe, her eyes narrowed. "Obviously, figuring out how to balance the scale isn't the hard part…"

Kaji nearly looked sick. "Man, we have to get all these up there? We're gonna be wiped out!"

"We don't have a choice; this could be the only particular piece left in this maze," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "Doesn't mean I have to like it…"

Shaking her head in silent exasperation, Hanabi moved towards the nearest weight, labeled as the 115kg weight, and said "Just help me with this; I already know which one goes where…"

In the next grueling moments, Hanabi and Kaji were struggling to lift the weight up the narrow steps. Arms and fingers screaming in pain from the small metal grips in the stone block, Hanabi carefully climbed each thin step one at a time while Kaji beared the brunt of the weight from below, slowly moving with her.

"This sucks…" groaned Kaji as the wound in his chest was adding pain to that in his hands.

"Tell me about it…" said Hanabi through gritted teeth, powering her legs up the steps as quickly as possible to conserve her arms. Even her feet were crying in pain, barely being able to stand on the narrow steps. Finally, she set the weight down on the top step so Kaji could easily push the stone block onto the pan, tilting the scale by about a foot as the pan lowered towards the floor.

Leaping off of the stairs, Hanabi looked at the other side of the scale and saw that the raised pan effectively added an extra step. "That's going to be annoying," she said. "Wasumaru-san, can you stand over there, please?"

Looking up from his drawing of the scale and the seven weights that now remained around it, Wasumaru stared from Hanabi to the raised pan she was pointing to, and slowly made his way up the steps. When he sat on the scale and returned to his sketch pad, the pan lowered by a slight amount, but not by nearly enough to balance the two sides.

Seeing that they now had even more work to do than they thought, Kaji was scratching his head in frustration. "Aaagh! What's next? The room floods while we do this?"

Sighing again, Hanabi muttered "We have to focus on the problem that's right in front of us, huh? Let's just get the seventy-five kilogram weight on the other side."

Even though it was the smallest weight in the room, between Kaji's healing wound and Hanabi's small stature, they both struggled to lift it up each step. When they reached the top, Hanabi stepped onto the raised pan, tipping the scale by another inch.

As Kaji held up the stone block from the bottom with shaking arms, Hanabi struggled to lift her end onto the pan. "Just, a little bit, further," she said to Kaji through gritted teeth.

"Yeah…" he grunted, a bead of sweat forming on his brow.

With a final tug, a small part of the weight rested on the pan, balancing the scale so Kaji could easily push it the rest of the way. As Hanabi stepped off the scale, the small 75kg weight and Wasumaru on the pan managed to evenly counterbalance the 115kg weight.

"That's two…six more to go…" said Hanabi, eyeing the 175kg weight. "I have no idea how we're going to lift that…"

Sitting down in exhaustion, Kaji replied through heaving breaths "Yeah, I know. Just lookin' at that, makes my back sore. We need more people, to help us, not like anyone who happens to pass by would...help…us…"

Trailing off, Kaji thought for a moment. "I'm such an idiot!" he yelled so loudly that Hanabi and even Wasumaru were startled. Before Hanabi could ask Kaji why he shouted, he brought his hands together. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

In an instant, four perfect copies of Kaji were standing next to him, each one ready for action. From the ground, the real Kaji said to them "Hey guys, move those weights for us, will ya?"

"Aw man, that doesn't sound like fun at all," pouted one clone.

"Yeah, that sounds boring," said another while the other clones agreed.

"I don't care if it's boring or not!" exclaimed Kaji, pointing at the safe. "We need to get inside that safe, and we could use the extra help here!"

Grumbling mutinously, the clones set off to work while Hanabi and Kaji directed them, relaxing on the same pan as Wasumaru to hold the scale as even as possible. As the clones started to move the weights to the scale, Hanabi wanted to talk to Kaji about something.

Turning to her teammate, she asked "You're part of a clan too? I've never heard of the Sogeki clan…"

"That's how my clan likes it," said Kaji quietly, watching his clones push one of the larger blocks on the scale. "Heh, knowin' my dad, he'd beat me up for even mentioning it…"

"But you're not interested in being part of the clan," said Hanabi, remembering how reluctant he sounded earlier. "Why?"

As Wasumaru drew silently behind them, Kaji looked at Hanabi with a grin. "Sorry Hanabi-chan, but I've got my secrets too. Tell ya what though; since you told me your whole story, it's only fair that I give you a chance to hear mine."

"Alright," said Hanabi, an eyebrow raised in interest. "I'm listening…"

His grin wider, Kaji said "If you beat me in this exam, I'll spill my story. 'Kay?"

Hanabi's smirk matched his grin. "Deal," she said.

"Good, 'cause now I'm not gonna lose!" said Kaji determinedly. "If I have ta tell you everything, my dad'll probably have ta kill me on principle."

"Hey, could you two give us a hand here?"

The two genin turned to look at the doppelgangers; within mere minutes, only the 175kg weight remained off of the scale. As they gathered around the large stone block, the four Kaji-clones groaned as they massaged their backs. "We could use some help with this last one," said one of them as they all struggled to lift the heaviest weight off of the ground.

Hanabi glanced at Kaji and shrugged. "It's only fair…"

"Yeah, I guess," he admitted, leaping to join his clones.

The last weight took every last bit of their strength to lift, but little by little, Hanabi, Kaji, and his clones managed to hoist the 175kg block up each step, and onto the pan. As soon as the last of the weights was fully on the scale, Kaji's clones vanished in a cloud of smoke while the real Kaji and Hanabi jumped down to the floor, exhausted.

"Wasumaru-san, you can get off from there now…" panted Hanabi, the scale slightly off-balance.

Without saying a word, Wasumaru slowly picked up his supplies and calmly walked past the four stone blocks that stood in his way. When his foot left the pan, the scale was balanced perfectly and both lights on the safe lit up.

With a sense of triumph, Hanabi opened the safe, revealing a detailed clay torso with arms, matching the head in their possession. There were two pegs protruding from the top and bottom of the chest, which Hanabi assumed would fit the other two pieces. Wanting to confirm this theory, she took the clay head from her bag and carefully put the two pieces together with a small 'pop'.

"Yeah! Two down, one ta go!" said Kaji, grinning.

"Yeah, let's not waste any time; that soldier pill's still working," said Hanabi, activating her Byakugan again. "This way!" and she ran through the next door.

"Hey, wait!" said Kaji to no avail. A slight scowl, he quickly picked up Wasumaru and said to himself "Definitely should've given her half…"

* * *

In the darkness of the hallway between the two rooms, one genin watched as Kaji and Wasumaru left, leaving the chamber empty. As he peered through the eye-hole while smiling underneath his thick mask, his teammates were crouched behind him.

"Well? Did they get it?" asked one of them eagerly.

"They have two, going for a third," came the reply. "Let's move out before we lose them…"

As they pushed open the door to follow the Leaf ninja, the third genin said behind his filtered mask "This was a good idea; let someone else do the work for us…and then dispose of them…"

* * *

In the viewing room, seventeen jonin were standing idly by. Most of them were staring at the monitors on the walls, silently watching their students. Others were simply waiting for the next stage, their teams having already passed through the maze.

Only a few jonin turned to look at the sound of Asuma, Shintaro, and Kazumi coming through the door. As they quietly made their way back to the front of the room, Asuma reclaimed his spot next to Kurenai while Shintaro stood next to him, Kazumi close behind.

Kurenai kept her eyes on her team as she casually asked Asuma "So, how did it go?"

Lighting another cigarette in his mouth, Asuma sighed as he put away his lighter. "About as well as you'd expect."

"_That bad, huh?"_ thought Kurenai.

"Well, what happened?" asked Mayumi, looking eagerly from Shintaro to Kazumi to Asuma.

But Hitoshi was the one who answered her. "Obviously, they're not supposed to tell us, Mayumi-san."

"Well, I knew that," said Mayumi disappointedly, "but it doesn't mean I don't want to know…"

The rest of the jonin in the room were not oblivious to this; many of them were now trying to figure out the reason why one of the Sand Village chunin was killed, and why the three jonin that were briefed could not divulge their information to the rest of them. Sensing the uneasiness in the room, Hitoshi thought to himself _"There's only one reason why they wouldn't tell us what happened; the killer has not been identified. Not only that, but they don't know who to suspect. There might even be a spy among us in this very room. Great…it's not that I don't have enough trouble looking after my students…"_

Asuma took a quick glance around the room. "I don't see Ino, Choji, or Sakura anywhere. Did they already pass?"

"Yes, they were the first to do so," said Kurenai. "There was some arguing along the way, but other than that, there were no problems."

"Heh, that's good," he said with a grin. "Looks like Shikamaru soon won't be the only member of my team to become chunin."

A hint of worry in his voice, Shintaro asked "How are my students doing?"

"Hmm?" Mayumi wondered as she looked over at him. "Dunno, I was too busy looking after my own team; they weren't on the monitors for a moment, but then again, there are a few screens that are down."

Asuma let out a short laugh. "There's a Hyuga on your team, Shintaro-san. I'm sure they're fine."

With a thoughtful finger to her chin, Mayumi took a moment to scan the monitors. "Aha, there they are!" she exclaimed, pointing at a screen that displayed Hanabi and Kaji, the latter carrying Wasumaru, for only a second as they quickly passed through the empty room. "Looks like they're still in it," she said.

Smiling to himself, Shintaro said "That's good."

Behind him, Kazumi also glimpsed Team Three on the monitor. "They look so young," she remarked, impressed. "They must be strong to make it this far…"

"They are," said Shintaro with pride. "They may not look like much, but those three have already been through more than what genin are expected to do. I think they're going to do very well in this exam…"

* * *

"Whoa…" said Kaji in awe, setting Wasumaru down so he could draw. "What is this room all about?"

"Don't know…" replied Hanabi, staring through the safe lying down in the middle of the room with her Byakugan. "But if we figure it out, we get the third doll piece…"

On the walls around them, there were twelve slots scattered throughout the room, each with a small red light above them. The stone walls were also covered in light, small scratches that seemed to group around the slots.

"I think I know what this means," said Hanabi as she examined the door of the safe. There were twelve smaller red lights on the safe that matched the ones in the room, and a shuriken engraved in the middle of them. Looking back at the walls, she estimated that the holes were barely large enough for a shuriken to pass through, and she could see small metal targets behind each of them. "Looks like we'll need to throw shuriken in each of these holes."

Peering over, Kaji got the idea and took out a shuriken. "Only one way ta find out…"

Quickly turning, he flipped the shuriken towards the nearest slot with deadly accuracy. As the tiny metal blade sailed through the small gap with a clatter, the red light above it glowed brightly. At the same time, Hanabi saw that one of the twelve lights on the safe also lit up.

Before Kaji could begin to grin however, the light above the slot and the matching light on the safe turned off just as quickly as it was lit. "Huh?" he wondered. "What gives?"

Hanabi looked from the safe to the walls and sighed. "I think we're going to have to light these all up at the same time."

"Wha?" Kaji stammered, eyeing each of the twelve targets, some that were angled along the wall. "Uh, I don't think I was _that_ good in shuriken throwing…"

"Well obviously, this test was meant for three people," said Hanabi, taking some shuriken out. "Wasumaru-san, I don't suppose you could help?"

Wasumaru did not seem to have heard her, despite the fact that he was drawing only feet away from her.

"Right," said Hanabi, unsurprised. To Kaji, she said "Well, you do have your clones…"

"Yeah," he replied, "but I used up a lot of my chakra in the last room. And we might still need to fight our way outta here. I think I could only manage one clone."

Sighing again, Hanabi said "One, huh?" and checked her bag. "Well, I've got eight shuriken and it looks like we're not going to get them back once we do this, so we'd better get this right the first time."

Giving her a thumbs-up, Kaji said "Got it," before forming the familiar hand seal. "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

A puff of smoke later and Kaji's doppelganger stood next to him as they both took out four shuriken and said "Ready when you are!"

"Alright," said Hanabi, looking around the room again. "Remember; these have to go in at the same time. I'll work out which ones we'll aim at…"

For about a minute, Hanabi studied each target and its location in the room. She knew that to maximize their accuracy, they would each have to throw two shuriken at a time, two from each hand. Therefore, she assigned two targets far from their separate positions that they will aim at first, and two targets that were closer. As Hanabi walked around to get different views of the room, she made sure in her head that the trajectories of their shuriken wouldn't interfere with each other.

Finally, Hanabi figured it out. "Kaji, you stand here," she said, pointing to a spot halfway between a wall and the safe. "Your clone will stand across from you, about here…"

"Got it!" said the two Kaji's in unison as they moved into position.

After Hanabi walked over so that the safe in the middle of the room separated the three of them equally, she began to assign their targets. "Kaji, you're going for these two in the corner here first, and then the two on your six. Your clone is going to hit the two on the opposite corner, and then the two on his five and seven. I know which ones I'm doing. This will make sure that none of our shuriken will collide."

"Cool. This should be no sweat," said both Kaji's, preparing to throw.

"Let's hope so," said Hanabi, shifting her stance with her shuriken in both hands. "We probably only have two shots at this, but I prefer to get it done in one."

She took a deep breath, remembering all of her shuriken training at the academy. "We'll go on three," she said. "One, two, three!"

Hanabi, Kaji, and his clone all threw two of their shuriken at the same time. Using the momentum of their first throw, the three of them turned around and threw the other two toward their targets. Like poetry in motion, Hanabi stopped her spin as all twelve shuriken sailed through the air and into their respective slots, lighting up every bulb above them simultaneously.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hanabi saw the twelve small lights on the safe turn on, and she heard an audible 'click' from the lock. Sprinting to the center of the room, she opened the heavy door and peered inside.

Although she already knew what it was, Hanabi felt a sense of relief and satisfaction as she picked up the last piece of the doll and felt it in her hands. As Kaji's clone dispersed, he ran over to his teammate and looked over her shoulder. "Sweet," he said with his excited grin.

The third piece was the waist and legs, with carefully crafted joints at the knees. Wasting little time, Hanabi took out the other two pieces of the doll and carefully fitted the torso onto the waist. A smile forming on her lips, Hanabi and Kaji stood in awe; the doll was complete.

"And now to get outta this crazy place," said Kaji as he walked back to Wasumaru, who had completed his detailed drawing of the room. "Any idea which way?"

"Let's see," she replied, activating her Byakugan. Staring past the rock doors and dark hallways, she spotted three very familiar ninja two rooms away. Their fellow Leaf nin and former classmates, Dai, Kisho, and Sayoko, were standing amongst a field of used ninja tools. From the completed doll in Dai's gloved hand, they had also just completed a task and were getting ready to leave.

Hanabi's eyes widened, remembering how their classmates fared on the first portion of the exam. "It's Team One; they know where the exit is! Hurry!" she said, quickly running after them before they could move out of her viewing range.

"Right behind ya," said Kaji as he followed her as close as he could with Wasumaru on his back. "Maybe way behind ya…" he muttered as the sliding doors kept closing between himself and Hanabi.

* * *

In the dank tunnels outside of the maze, Temari and Kankuro were keeping their eyes on Kichiro from a distance, staying back far enough to not be suspicious. This was fairly difficult, as every time Kichiro and Yutaka turned a corner, Temari and Kankuro would have to silently run to catch up.

"He wouldn't try anything here," said Temari silently to her brother after Kichiro and Yukata rounded the corner again. "There are cameras down here, plus two more teams, not to mention jonin patrolling the whole facility."

"Why would someone infiltrate the exams like this?" wondered Kankuro. "This can't be just to give their team an edge…you don't think…"

"Well, he is going to be here," said Temari. "But Gaara's too powerful for an assassin to handle alone, and he will have jonin protecting him."

Suddenly, the two Sand siblings heard a voice that made them freeze like ice. "What are you two talking about over there?" asked Kichiro from around the corner with a tone that had a hint of feigned innocence. He stepped into view wearing a knowing smile with Yutaka at his side.

Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances, cautiously approaching him. "We were talking about the genin who were taking the exam," said Temari. "There's one team from our village that has a lot of potential…"

"Really, didn't Baki-san teach you any manners?" Kichiro asked her, his smile unmoving. "Don't you know it's impolite to lie when someone asks you a question?"

Yukata looked at his partner without a clue as to what was going on. "Kichiro-san, what do you mean?" he asked nervously.

Tensed for battle, Kankuro said calmly "Yukata-san, you might want to step away from him…"

"Yes, step away from me," said Kichiro, eyes closed in a smirk with his arms over his chest. "I'm very dangerous, don't you know…"

"You're also not Kichiro-san," said Temari. "Kichiro-san was found dead today, so who are you?" she demanded.

With a fearful look, Yutaka quickly put some distance between himself and Kichiro as Kichiro replied "Come now, why would I tell you? What could I possibly gain from that? Anyway, you shouldn't be threatening me Temari-san; there's not enough room to swing you fan here."

"Yeah, but there's plenty of room for Crow," said Kankuro, unraveling a scroll. As Temari stepped back to give her brother some room, a four-armed raggedy puppet with spiky brown hair emerged from the scroll appeared before him. A flick of the wrist, and four long, thin blades extended from each of the puppet's arms.

Now with a devilish grin on his face, Kichiro unsheathed a sword made out of sharpened and polished obsidian. "Ah yes, I've always wanted to fight the highly acclaimed puppeteer of the Sand village. I bet there are over a hundred different concealed weapons on your puppet. What a thrill," he said, ready to fight.

Kichiro's restless smile suddenly turned into a painful grimace; Yutaka had moved in the blink of an eye and plunged a kunai knife into the back of Kichiro. Craning his head to look at his attacker, he scowled in fury. "You…"

"…are taking revenge for a friend," Yutaka finished for him, a solemn look on his face.

Capitalizing on the moment, Kankuro made Crow move forward to stab Kichiro in all four limbs. With Kichiro now immobilized, eight slots slid open on the puppet's chest and fired a salvo of poison needles at point-blank range into its hapless victim as he screamed in pain.

"It's over," said Temari. "There's enough poison in those needles to paralyze fifty men."

Kankuro approached Kichiro, who was now riddled with wounds all over his body. "We're taking you out of the Sandbox. I can't wait to see what Baki-sensei does to you to make you talk…" he said with a satisfied smile.

But Kichiro smiled again and replied "Then I apologize; you might be waiting for a very long time…"

And Kichiro started breaking apart before their very eyes. His clothes and skin and hair fragmented into flakes and pieces which further broke down into very fine sand. The senbon needles fell from his chest that was no longer there, and Crow and Yutaka retreated with their weapons, now useless against a target that had no form.

In mere seconds, all that remained of Kichiro was a pile of sand on the ground. "Watch out!" said Temari as the sand started to whirl around them, forcing her to shield her eyes along with Kankuro and Yutaka. The sand was carried by the strong breeze all over the corridor, turning the hallway into a large wind tunnel that threatened to take the three ninja with it. When the wind finally died down, Temari opened her eyes and saw no trace of Kichiro in the room.

"Where did he go?" she wondered, alert for any signs of movement.

"There!" said Kankuro, pointing down the hall. For a split second, the Sand ninja could see a small bit of sand only a few meters away creeping into the cracks in the wall, and then there was nothing.

"That wasn't a sand clone," said Temari, gritting her teeth. "Looks like he escaped…"

As Kankuro resealed Crow inside of the scroll, he sighed. "Yeah. Baki-sensei's not going to like this…"

* * *

Kaji panted heavily as he ran after Hanabi, being held down by Wasumaru on his back, and the wound that was still healing on his chest. After another door closed behind Hanabi just before Kaji could reach it, he yelled "Hey, wait up! I don't have eyes that can find ya again if I lose you!"

But when he pried open the door, he saw that Hanabi was crouched against the entrance to the next room, signaling with a finger to her lips to keep quiet. Her Byakugan still active, Hanabi looked through the door to spy on Team One who had stopped moving and were now at the foot of a narrow steel ladder in the middle of the room that led upwards.

"Finally," said Sayoko, staring at the ceiling with relief on her face. "I've had enough of this place…"

Taking a long sip from a large water bottle, Kisho agreed "Same here. This place is starting to ruin my vibe."

In the darkness of the corridor, Hanabi whispered to Kaji "Pass me three smoke bombs and a paper bomb, quickly."

"What? You're gonna try and ambush 'em?" Kaji wondered, unsure and surprised that Hanabi would attack their village mates.

"Oh, I'm gonna ambush 'em alright," she said, eyes still staring into the room. "Just pass 'em here, and be ready to fight as soon as I open the door..."

"Okay then," he said reluctantly, taking the four ninja tools from his bag with difficulty due to Wasumaru still drawing on his back. Giving them to Hanabi's outstretched hand, Kaji said "I hope you know what you're doing…"

"Trust me, I do…" she said to herself, focusing on Dai, Sayoko, and Kisho.

"Let's not waste any time then guys," said Dai, their completed doll in his bandaged hands. Putting the doll into his ninja pack, Dai effortlessly leapt his way up the ladder with hard steps. When he reached the top of the room, he grabbed a handle and pulled open a trapdoor, revealing a small passage that led to the exit of the maze.

Sayoko gave a bold grin before climbing the ladder after him. Kisho followed soon after, taking another drink from his bottle before capping it and making his way up.

When the trapdoor closed behind the team, leaving the room empty, Hanabi posted the exploding tag against the wall and pulled open the door, tossing all three smoke bombs at each of the surrounding doors as she stepped in.

"What the-," said Kaji as he quickly followed her in and closed the door behind him, not wanting to stay anywhere near the exploding tag. Before he could say another word, the smoke bombs detonated, filling the entire room with thick smoke. He dropped Wasumaru, unable to see an inch in front of his face.

Hanabi was able to see through the smoke with her Byakugan, and was also able to see two genin enter the room from opposite sides, seemingly undeterred by the dark haze. She was about to move to take them both out when she realized that the smoke grew thicker and thicker until even her Byakugan couldn't cut through it. _"What? I should be able to see through this…"_ she thought, trying to look around in vain. _"Unless…"_

"Very clever," called out a voice Hanabi didn't recognize. "Now both of us can't see each other…"

A large breeze suddenly kicked up around the room, causing Hanabi's hair to flail about. She soon realized that the breeze was actually the smoke being sucked into the vents of an arm guard worn by a third genin, his mouth and nose concealed behind a thick mask like the rest of his team, who all wore dark combat gear and forehead protectors with a symbol Hanabi also did not recognize. In fact, the only feature that distinguished himself from the other members of his team was his hair; sleek, long, and gray.

When the last of the smoke was captured in the device on his arm, he said "There now, that's much better. We'll be taking that doll of yours now…by force if we have to…"

* * *

Kaji: We're at the finish line, but it looks like we're gonna have to fight our way out!

Hanabi: I can't say I didn't see this coming. This fight isn't going to be easy; none of us are at a hundred percent, and these guys aren't going to be pushovers.

Kaji: I say bring it!

Hanabi: You always say that.

Kaji: Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

Struggle in the Smoking Room: Escaping the Maze!

Hanabi: We've come too far to have all this be for nothing!

* * *

(Kaji is still sleeping at the news table. A large puddle of drool has accumulated around his mouth)

Hanabi: *walks in* Kaji? You're still here? Come on, get up! Shintaro-sensei and I have to do the news report!

Kaji: *shakes head* Wha? Hrmmm, right, right…

Hanabi: Ew, and you drooled all over the table! We'll need to wipe that later. Go on, shoo!

(Kaji leaves tiredly, muttering to himself. Shintaro takes his chair back)

Shintaro: And now the last news report of the second stage. We're going to report on which teams have made it through the maze so far.

(The monitor behind them displays the different teams as they're named)

Hanabi: In first place is Team Asuma with Sakura-san in place of Shikamaru-san. No surprise there, as this team looks really strong.

Shintaro: Next to finish is Team Kurenai. Hinata-chan's Byakugan and Kiba-san's nose managed to get them past this stage with little problem.

Hanabi: The team from Takigakure finished shortly afterwards. They would've probably finished sooner if they weren't having so much fun hunting the other participants… *shudders*

Shintaro: Team Kazumi finished an hour later, mostly due to navigational problems. Tadashi-san eventually relieved Kouta-kun of his duties as their navigator, and proceeded to quickly finish their tasks.

Hanabi: And we all just saw Team One reaching the finish line. Dai, Kisho, and Sayoko are the first ones from our year to complete the second stage. Will we be next? Find out next time.

Hanabi: *turns to Shintaro* It's a shame this is the last time we're going to be doing these news reports; I quite enjoyed them.

Shintaro: *turns to Hanabi* So have I.

Kaji: *runs in front of the camera* Gah! I got left out again!

* * *

Note from the Author: Failed Ideas for Sandbox Rooms

1. Block Room: Team must maneuver a giant block down a wrap-around path to rest on a pressure plate. Block weighs 500kg.

Cut because: Original idea lacked dynamics. Replaced by the Scale Room.

2. Platformer Room: Team must navigate a series of platforms that protract and contract into the wall in sequence, pressing three buttons in different areas of the room.

Cut because: Quickly realized that ninjas can simply jump straight to the buttons, bypassing the platforms altogether.

3. Hourglass Room: Team must solve a puzzle while the room slowly fills with sand.

Cut because: Deemed too lethal to be conceived by the creators. Impossible to reset.

4. Spike Punch Room: One member of the team must reach into a horizontal tube to retrieve a doll piece sitting inside an attached vertical tube. When the doll piece is disturbed, a kunai is propelled at a high velocity down the vertical tube, threatening to pierce the doll and the unlucky hand.

Cut because: Was not a team room. Time constraints.

* * *

A/N: Wow, two and a half months? Ok, I had a lot of family and friends to distract me while I was writing this chapter, but I won't complain 'cause I'm so _alone_…

But seriously, I'll try and get future chapters up quicker than that. Revew as always; you know I appreciate feedback.

Peace out!


	18. Struggle in the Smoking Room!

Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years

Chapter 18: Struggle in the Smoking Room: Escaping the Maze!

Tired, exhausted, and still healing from their wounds, Hanabi and Kaji could see the exit to the maze above them; a trapdoor at the top of a ladder in the center of the room. However, standing in their way and surrounding them were another team of three genin, the symbol on their forehead protectors in the shape of what Hanabi thought resembled a question mark.

The three ninja were all dressed in dark combat armor and seemed to be the same height and build, almost like Kaji. The girl beside Hanabi had sharp, short black hair, slanted above her narrow, serious face. The boy on the opposite side had long, fraying, light blue hair that draped over his ears. Both of them were wearing black, thick goggles along with thick masks that concealed their entire face, even their eyes, making Hanabi wonder how they could see.

"Saw through our ambush, did you?" said the girl, arms folded over her chest.

"From the moment you were tailing us," replied Hanabi, eyes narrowed. "I knew you guys were waiting until we had the complete doll, but I didn't want to fight you then; we had to find the pieces before they were all taken."

"Clever," said the boy. "We do have to thank you for finding all three pieces for us…"

Kaji stood in front of Wasumaru, who was still drawing obliviously. "As if we're just gonna hand 'em over," he said as he took out two kunai and brought them up to guard. "Who are you three, anyway?"

Hanabi was also curious, shifting into her defensive stance. "I don't recognize that village symbol…"

The leader of the team, only distinguishable from his two partners by his sleek gray hair, black eyes, and his unique, black, metal arm guard, said proudly "We're from an esteemed village: Moyagakure."

"Ah, of course…" said Kaji, nodding his head. "Uh…never heard of it."

"Me neither," said Hanabi with a puzzled look. She also made a mental note that from where he was standing, he had to have come through the door on which she had planted the paper bomb, and yet it didn't go off.

The boy to her left stamped his foot in frustration. "Oh, come on! The Hidden Smoke Village? Ring any bells?"

With a casual shrug, Kaji replied "We've never heard of it. What more do ya want?"

Growling, the boy was about to shout back when his leader said "Easy, Shigeru-san; there aren't many here who know of our village, considering our village isn't well known for its military."

"But you'll change that, right Akihiko-kun?" said the girl, grinning at her teammate.

Akihiko gave out a short laugh. "I suppose I will, Chie…I suppose I will…"

"Ooo, what makes you so special?" asked Kaji sarcastically.

"Simple," he replied, brandishing his arm guard. "I am the only one in our village with the special kekkei genkai that made our village strong. After we become chunin, I'll use the powers of my bloodline to make our village recognized among the Five Great Nations!"

"Gee, and I thought your village was already esteemed," Kaji muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Hanabi gave a light smile not from Kaji's remark, but from anticipation. _"A kekkei genkai, huh? This should be interesting…"_

"Enough talk!" said Akihiko. "We were going to have that doll from you without any hassle. Now, we'll give you a fair chance to surrender, or we will take that doll," and he pulled out a kunai. "By any means necessary."

"Surrender, huh?" asked Hanabi, glancing at her teammates. "Somehow I don't think that'll sit well with Kaji-san here…"

"Ya got that right," Kaji grinned.

"Thought so," she said, turning back to Akihiko with her stance at the ready. "You heard him; we're not giving up the doll without a fight."

Smirking, Akihiko said "Well, I warned you…" Without another word, he tapped his arm guard twice and held it out in front of him. Before Hanabi could move, the vents on his arm expelled a seemingly endless stream of white smoke that quickly filled the room. Within seconds, the haze was so thick that Hanabi couldn't even see her outstretched hands in front of her.

To her dismay, even her Byakugan couldn't cut through the smoke. _"It must be made from his chakra…"_ she thought, backing away slowly. _"That's not good; it means he can control it…"_

Kaji was also having trouble trying to see where their opponents were. Wheeling around at the slightest sound of light footsteps, he said to himself "This ain't good…where are they?"

As if to answer him, Kaji suddenly felt the hard impact of a flying kick to his back, forcing him to drop his kunai which were lost to the smoke with a clatter. He stumbled forward, only to feel an equally painful kick from another concealed attacker hit him square in the chest, right over the healing wound where Hanabi had stabbed him earlier.

"Agh!" he gasped as he fell on his side, curling up while clutching his ribs. "Damnit!"

Hanabi heard Kaji's cries, but knew she couldn't try to help him even though she wanted to. Instead, she tried to hear the subtleties in the enemy's movements, trying to gain any hints as to when or where an attack might come.

As she barely heard movement behind her, her eyes lit up. With no time to block, she turned around and twisted out of the way of a straight punch. However, the smoke prevented her from countering, and she barely ducked under a hard swing from the same attacker. Finally, a vicious side kick slipped under her guard and caught her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying backwards into the wall where she managed to brace her arms against it to keep from falling over.

"Helpless, aren't you?" taunted Akihiko from somewhere in the mist. "I gave you a chance to surrender, but you refused, even though you knew we're well-rested. Was it pride? No one can see us down here…would you've been ashamed if you had surrendered? Or was it arrogance, that you thought you could beat us in a fight? Did you underestimate our abilities, or overestimate your own?"

Gritting her teeth, Hanabi knew that he was just trying to get inside her head to break her focus. She tried to locate Akihiko using the sound of his voice, but she heard Chie's voice from the smoke.

"We took out your teammate; I don't think he's getting' up. And your other one's not doing anything. What's wrong with him?" she asked, almost laughing. "Anyway, Akihiko-kun doesn't wanna kill you or anything, but we need that doll…"

"So give it up while you can still walk outta here," said Shigeru, clearly enjoying their dominant position. "Like Chie said, your teammate's down and out."

"Who says I'm out?" said Kaji defiantly, albeit weakly as he picked himself up. "I'm still standin'…" he said as he took out another kunai. However, he felt a swift kick to his cheek that drove him to the floor not a moment after.

Hanabi heard Kaji's painful groans through the smoke, but before she could worry about him, a hard fist from the side caught her in the temple. Trying to roll with the hit, Hanabi quickly moved away until she found a corner, crouching with her back against it. She shook her head, trying to clear away the effects of the punch, but she knew they were cornered by a team who once again had all of the advantages.

"_What do we do now?"_ she wondered, bracing herself for the next attack.

* * *

"What? He escaped?" yelled Baki over the static of the radio.

"Told you he wouldn't take it well," said Kankuro to his sister.

The two sand siblings were still in the hallway with Yutaka, the three of them gathered around the crack in the wall where Kichiro, or at least someone who was posing as Kichiro, escaped through.

"He should be exhausted now; that jutsu takes a lot of chakra," said Yutaka. "It was meant as a last resort for escape."

"Nevertheless," said Baki, "we should all be on high alert." Opening the broadcast channel, he said to all of the chunin "Listen up; I want all the chunin to sweep the maze for any remaining genin teams. Stay in groups of two. Temari-san and Kankuro-san, you will take Yutaka-san with you."

"It hasn't been nearly twenty-four hours," said Temari.

"I don't care. We are ending this stage early," replied Baki. "All of the available items the genin need to find have been taken and the last few teams that are still in it are just trying to find the way out. If you find a team, just tell them they failed and escort them outside. I'll have a team of jonin waiting to take them out of the Sandbox."

"And what if we run into Kichiro?" asked Kankuro.

"I want you to capture him. Failing that, you are authorized to use lethal force," said Baki. "I don't know what the plan is for whomever's responsible for this, but it can't help if their insider is dead. There's also the safety of the visiting ninja to consider; we don't want another incident here. Now, move out!"

"Yes sir!" said the three of them as they entered the maze through the nearest door.

As the team maneuvered quickly through the empty rooms, Temari, Kankuro, and Yutaka heard Baki's voice on their receivers once more. "I'm only giving these instructions to you three: I have cameras out in rooms 4-F and 6-J. It may be just a malfunction in the system, but all the same I want you make those rooms your first priority."

"Got it," said Temari as the sand siblings exchanged glances.

"I know I complained about this job being boring," said Kankuro offhandedly, "but this is a little much…"

* * *

Hanabi was knocked to the ground again by an attack that she couldn't see, forcing her to displace herself by rolling away. However, she knew that this strategy was getting them nowhere. She was already tired and bruised, despite the soldier pill still in her system, and now even her will was starting to be broken down by the constant battering from an invisible opponent.

"Really now, this is embarrassing…" said Akihiko, still concealed by the smoke. "You're out of your league here. You're three separate genin up against a _team_. You should give up now."

"Never…" Hanabi whispered to herself, but she knew that they had no chance while this smoke was in the room. Somehow, Akihiko and his team could fight unhindered in this environment, even though her Byakugan wouldn't let her do the same. There was one thing they could do however…

"Kaji! Throw a smoke bomb, now!" she yelled.

As Kaji got to his knees, he replied "I was thinkin' about that…" Out of instinct, he rolled towards the center of the room, narrowly avoiding another blow from the quick breeze he could feel above him. At the same time, he reached into his pack and took out the black grenade and threw it at his feet.

Hanabi also moved towards the center of the room as silently as possible, the gray smoke rapidly becoming thicker and darker. _"Now they can't see either,"_ she thought. _"I'll have a small opening…"_

Sure enough, just like she had predicted, Hanabi could feel the smoke being quickly pulled into Akihiko's arm guard. As the features in the room slowly became visible, she raced towards the point where the smoke was being drawn to, her hands ready to strike.

Hanabi barely glimpsed Akihiko's look of surprise through what was left of the smoke before he jumped away from her, nearly stepping on Wasumaru in the process, who had now resumed his drawing of the room. Tapping his arm guard three times, Akihiko immediately released more gray smoke into the room before Hanabi could get within striking distance. "Clever," he muttered, disappearing behind the stream of smoke.

"_Damn, missed…"_ Hanabi thought as the room was once again filled with impenetrable thick smoke. However, she did manage to get a look at Akihiko's arm guard with her Byakugan before then; the unusual device was fueled by his chakra. Using a complex system of filters and vents, the smoke from the smoke bomb was broken down and added to new smoke that Akihiko created from his arm.

"I take it that ya didn't get him?" asked Kaji from somewhere close to Hanabi.

"Obviously," she replied impatiently. _"At least now I know what to aim for…"_ And she knew the smoke was made from Akihiko's chakra, which explained how he could look through it, but what about Chie and Shigeru?

"Kaji, toss another smoke bomb!" she said, moving around the room in random patterns.

"Chie, stop him!" said Shigeru.

"No problem," she replied.

Kaji gritted his teeth as he heard this, and had his hand in his pack, fumbling around until he finally grabbed two more smoke bombs. Went he tried to pull them out however, he was decked with a hard punch to his face that sent him flying into the wall, the tiny bombs rolling away from his hands.

Hanabi had problems of her own. Akihiko was now pressing his attack and the only reason why he was not landing any solid blows on her was because of Hanabi's light feet and quick reflexes. Even so, she was barely able to block his strikes, only being able to tell where they were coming from due to the movements in the air and educated guessing.

As Hanabi leaped away from a kick (only identified as such because she could briefly see the bottom of Akihiko's boot in front of her eyes), she wondered why Akihiko tapped his arm guard right before it activated. From what she could tell, his device was solely powered by the chakra in his arm. But there was no way that this behavior was not important; he even changed the number of taps from the last attack.

Suddenly, Hanabi was struck from behind with a devastating punch that forced her forward. In the next instant, a kick to her midsection buckled her chest so hard that Hanabi dropped to the ground on the spot, unable to breathe. _"Shigeru switched targets?"_ she wondered as she pushed herself to move away.

It took all of her speed and strength to barely avoid their next attacks, but now Hanabi had completely figured out their strategy.

Aloud, she said "Kaji, use a clone!"

"Got it," he replied, forming his hands together. "Clone jutsu!"

Hanabi heard the 'pop' of the clone being created, and was satisfied to hear Chie's panicked voice. "Which one's the real one?"

"I don't know, just go after one and I'll take out the other!" yelled Shigeru.

"Alright," said Chie, confused.

Hanabi then heard Shigeru yelp in pain. "Ahh! That was me!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Sorry!" said Chie quickly.

From within the smoke, Hanabi heard Akihiko trying to maintain control. "Chie, he's on your right!"

"Got it," she replied, throwing a kick in that direction that caught Kaji in the chest. Letting out a grunt, he fell backwards onto the floor as Chie giggled to herself.

This sense of fulfillment left Chie immediately when she heard the clone dissipate with another 'pop'. "What?" she wondered, frantically searching around the room.

Relief cleansing her bruises, Hanabi grinned when she heard Kaji taunt the three of them. "Wrong one," he said, his smile wide despite no one being able to see it. A second later, a smoke bomb thrown by him detonated in the middle of the room.

"No!" growled Akihiko, frustrated that Kaji had managed to outsmart his team.

Hanabi nodded, her theory proven to be correct. _"Chie and Shigeru's goggles allow them to see, but not perfectly. They can probably see our heat signatures, which is why Akihiko taps his arm guard; it determines their attack formation. Kaji's clone threw them off. And smoke bombs do give off quite a bit of heat when they explode, and that would disrupt their vision. Now all I have to do is get to Akihiko when he tries to filter this smoke…"_

As she predicted, the smoke in the room was suddenly being drawn to one spot near the wall opposite to where Hanabi was leaning against. Pinpointing the exact place where the smoke was being collected, she pushed off of the wall, her hands and her Byakugan ready to disable Akihiko.

The room clearing up, she was only a few meters away from the arm guard of Akihiko when she was tackled hard from the side by Shigeru, desperately forcing her into the side wall. Frustrated, Hanabi took a swipe at Shigeru, who rolled away to avoid it. Although she had a clear path to Akihiko, it was too late as the last of the smoke was sucked into the filters on his arm.

"Too bad," grinned Akihiko, tapping his arm guard twice.

However, Akihiko was suddenly gripped with fear, as the entire room went dark, save for the boy whom he had neglected, sitting ever so patiently in the center of the room. Now standing up, Wasumaru turned to meet his eyes and said in a menacing tone, _"Stop that!"_

Akihiko took a step backward from Wasumaru in shock. The room returned to normal, but he found that this slight hesitation had cost him; Hanabi was now within striking distance right in front of his face.

With a look of surprise, Akihiko tried to dodge to the side to avoid a direct blow, but Hanabi still managed to make contact with his arm guard with her gentle palm. With her Byakugan, she could see her chakra clashing with Akihiko's within the arm guard, forcing many of the filters and vents closed. Eventually, the device broke down as several large cracks in the metal released hot steam that made him cry out in pain, forcing him to quickly take his arm guard off.

"Aki-kun!" cried Chie.

"No!" yelled Shigeru.

Now satisfied, Wasumaru sat back down to resume his drawing; it was very disturbing with all of the smoke.

Hanabi was now smiling as she prepared to attack Akihiko. "What are you going to do now?" she asked. "You can't use smoke without your arm guard."

"Oh, can't I?" Akihiko muttered under his breath, bringing his hands together to form a seal. As Hanabi charged at him, he yelled "Smoke Displacement jutsu!"

Right before Hanabi could make contact, Akihiko's entire body dissipated instantly into gray smoke. Unable to stop her forward momentum, Hanabi passed through the smoke and was hit hard by a roundhouse kick to her stomach from Chie, causing her to stagger backwards, the wind knocked out of her. In the same second, she saw Akihiko reform behind her to deliver a forearm that dug into her shoulder blades, sending her to the floor in a heap.

"Hanabi-chan!" cried Kaji.

* * *

"Entering 6-J," said Temari into the radio.

The three Sand Village ninja found themselves in a room that had evidence of a recent battle, to the surprise of none of them. So far, they had found nothing unusual in the other rooms they had searched, and no other team radioed in any notable report.

"Looks like a few teams met each other in here," said Temari, glancing at the bloodstains on the floor and two damaged kunai embedded into one of the walls and a large crack in between them from a detonation of some sort. She could also tell that several powerful techniques were used from the soft, wet ground, and from the several small pock marks in the walls.

Kankuro sighed. "I don't think Kichiro would escape from us just to get in here. There's no reason to infiltrate the maze when it's nearly over. Even if he somehow found a genin team, he'd be too weakened to take them on."

"Well, we have to search anyway," said Temari. "And something still bothers me. Suppose someone is really disguised as Kichiro; how could he replicate his techniques?"

"That's what I've been thinking as well," said Yutaka. "Could it be someone from our village?"

"Could be, but we still wouldn't know why," said Kankuro.

"We shouldn't worry about that now, we're only guessing," said Temari as something caught her eye. Looking up at the far corner of the ceiling, she said "Camera's been knocked out…"

The other two looked to the same spot, and indeed the camera lens that was implanted in the sandstone was destroyed by a stray jutsu, marked by the black scorched rock around where it hit. "Battle must've been pretty intense," said Kankuro. "You'd think there'd be someone unconscious in here…"

"The room's clear, aside from the camera," said Temari. "Let's move on to 4-F…"

* * *

Shintaro was sitting down patiently, waiting to hear how his students fared in the maze.

Most of the other jonin were sitting quietly as well, their teams either eliminated or out of the maze. The only ones left standing were Asuma, still smoking his cigarette, Kurenai, at his side, and Mayumi, her team still somewhere in the maze. Hitoshi and Kazumi were sitting down next to Shintaro, both of their teams having completed their task. However, they still watched the monitors intently, each of them knowing that there was a greater danger at hand.

Suddenly, Asuma pointed to one of the screens and said "Look, they're taking them out."

This got the attention of most of the jonin in the room. On the monitor Asuma was pointing to, two chunin had found a genin team and were escorting them back the way they came. One of the jonin wearing a Kumogakure headband, and undoubtedly the teacher of the team that was being led out, said in outrage "What is this? It hasn't been a full day yet!"

Kazumi stood up and said "It's a safety measure in case something goes wrong; the chunin are going to clear out the maze for their safety." She then glanced back towards Asuma as he closed his eyes in thought.

"_So, the imposter's making his move, huh?"_ Asuma thought, taking another drag on his cigarette. _"Why now? What's his purpose?"_

An unexpected knock on the door startled everyone in the room, making those who were sitting down stand up on instinct, and nearly making Asuma reach for his trench knives. When the door opened however, a seemingly weak, balding man in a white buttoned coat stepped into the room, walking on a bamboo cane. The forehead protector wrapped around his arm displayed the symbol of Takigakure for the jonin to see as he slowly made his way towards them.

A feeble smile on his face, Susumu asked "Am I finally in the right place? Is this where the jonin for the exams are supposed to be?"

"You're a little late, aren't ya?" asked Mayumi as she relaxed.

"I got a little lost," Susumu explained, still smiling. "My students were so enthusiastic that they ran ahead of me, and I couldn't find my way around this village, all the buildings look the same. I know I was late by a few hours, but I hope that won't count against my students. Speaking of which, how are they doing?"

"_He doesn't really expect us to believe that he was lost for this long? Shintaro-san was only late by a few hours, and he's blind,"_ thought Hitoshi, sitting back down. Aloud, he replied "Your team has already passed this stage, well before you came."

"Oh, good…good…" said Susumu, sitting down against a wall as the other jonin looked on suspiciously, his eyes closed in contemplation.

As she eyed the mysterious old man, Kazumi noticed that Shintaro seemed to have something on his mind as he jerked his head slightly. "What is it?" she whispered to him.

"His chakra signature," he whispered back. "I…think I've sensed it somewhere…"

"Really? Where?" she asked, looking at him.

But Shintaro shook his head. "I'm not sure," he replied. "It could just be me; I know I've never met that man before, but still…"

Suddenly, Mayumi tapped Shintaro on the shoulder. "Hey, Shintaro-san; your students are at the end of the maze! They just have to get past this one team."

"Really?" he asked eagerly, forgetting all about the seemingly familiar chakra signature. "How are they doing?"

Looking towards one of the monitors, she replied "It was impossible to tell who was in the final room earlier; there was so much smoke in there. Looks like the Hyuga's in trouble..."

Shintaro lowered his head. _"Hanabi, Kaji, Wasumaru…do your best!"_

* * *

Hanabi tried to get up, gritting her teeth trough the pain, but a vicious stomp to her back by Akihiko forced her back to the ground and made her cry out. He then placed a foot on her back, using all of his weight to keep her from moving.

The sole of his boot digging into her back, he said "You thought my air compressor was the key to my power? That only allowed me to focus my chakra more effectively. As you can see, I still have the ability to turn into smoke, and you can't hurt smoke. Are you paying attention?" He forced his boot down harder, making her wince.

"_That's how he got past the paper bomb that I planted…"_ thought Hanabi, trying in vain to wriggle free.

Seeing that Akihiko had Hanabi pinned down, Kaji yelled "Let go of her!" as he charged forward with a kunai in hand. However, he was intercepted by Chie, who held Kaji to a standstill with a kunai of her own.

"Outta my way!" said Kaji fiercely, sparks flying from the force of the two kunai grounding together.

"Not a chance!" grunted Chie, her expression matching Kaji's.

Only a few steps away, Hanabi was fighting to breathe. The weight of Akihiko slowly crushing her tiny frame, she struggled to push herself off of the ground to no avail. Meanwhile, Akihiko said "Shigeru-san; take out that boy. He's a genjutsuist!"

"Got it!" said Shigeru. Taking out a kunai, he rushed towards Wasumaru, who was still drawing obliviously.

"Wasumaru-san!" cried Hanabi, trying to warn him.

As Shigeru was closing in on the drawing boy, he glanced at exactly what Wasumaru was sketching. It seemed to be a drawing of the room they were in, except it was empty, save for one person.

"_Is that…me?"_ he wondered for a split second.

And in that split second, Wasumaru had turned to face Shigeru, his depthless black eyes locking onto his own. _"Seishinkatsu…"_

_The whole room flipped round and round, causing Shigeru to lose his balance and fall to one knee. When the room was still once more and his senses came back to him, he stood with his kunai at the ready…only there was no one to attack._

"_Aki-san? Chie-san? Where are you guys?" he wondered, whirling around for an expected attack that never came. _

_To his horror, the room was completely empty, save for the ladder in the middle of the room. In fact, apart from the absence of anyone else, he was in the exact same room as before. There were still four closed doors apparently leading out of the room._

_He raced to one of the doors, but he found that no matter how hard he pushed, he could not open it. His heart racing, Shigeru hurried to try the next door, and the next, and the next, but none of them yielded to his strength._

"_What is this?" Shigeru yelled in frustration, hoping for some kind of explanation from someone or something._

_His breathing shallow with panic, he looked around desperately for a way out, and quickly eyed the ladder. A bit of hope filled him as Shigeru started to climb, but what he saw when he looked up took it away._

_The giant, emotionless face of Wasumaru was staring down at him, his pen brush in hand, his blank eyes seemingly gazing into his very soul, and Shigeru realized the horrible truth as he sank to the ground and cried out in helplessness._

_He was inside the painting. He had become a part of the painting._

* * *

A glazed look in his eyes and his mouth hanging open, Shigeru sank to his knees in front of Wasumaru, who had already started on another drawing.

"Shigeru-san? Shigeru!" cried Chie, still at a stalemate with Kaji. "What did he do to him?" she demanded, looking at her powerless teammate.

Kaji glanced at Wasumaru, sketching as if he hadn't just devastated Shigeru's mind. All he could do was shake his head and say "I really don't know…"

"Shigeru? Snap out of it!" yelled Akihiko, taking his eyes off of Hanabi underneath his foot.

This proved to be a mistake, as Hanabi used her free arm to strike at Akihiko's other foot. "Hya!" she cried, hitting his ankle perfectly.

"Ahh!" cried Akihiko as he leapt away, wincing when he landed.

Picking herself off of the floor, Hanabi could see that her gentle fist had done its job; her chakra pierced his boot, and the chakra flow to his left foot had been cut off. Akihiko was now hobbling against the wall, trying to put distance away from her.

Seeing that he was vulnerable, Hanabi pushed off towards Akihiko, aiming to strike his chest. However, he dissipated into smoke right before she could reach him, just like before, and Hanabi passed right through him.

This time though, she was ready for the counter. With the aid of her Byakugan, she twisted out of the way of a punch aimed for her back and slammed her heel against Akihiko's cheek, sending him sprawling against the wall. Hanabi tried to follow up, but he dissolved into the air once more. However, she was still satisfied to see a surprised look on his face right before he did so.

Meanwhile, Chie was slashing at Kaji with an unexpected aggressiveness, which Kaji was matching with his own carefully timed blocks with his kunai. The weapons clanging and sparking with each hit, Kaji was slowly being forced back.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Shigeru-san!" yelled Chie.

"But I didn't do anything to him!" Kaji replied with a nervous look.

"Aaah!" Chie screamed, thinking that he was mocking her. Her anger fueled her strikes to the point where Kaji was losing his grip on his kunai with every block.

Finally, a heavy hit sent his kunai clattering away, and Chie took the opportunity to follow with a powerful kick to his face, launching Kaji against the wall with a sickening thud. Chie looked on with a small sense of satisfaction as his unconscious body slid to the floor, where he laid there.

"What'cha lookin' at?" asked Kaji curiously from behind her.

Chie quickly turned around and was shocked to see Kaji looking over her shoulder. Confused, she turned back to the Kaji she thought she had knocked out and wondered "What? Then who's…"

The unconscious Kaji lying against the wall disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing the now comatose Shigeru, out cold from Wasumaru's genjutsu and Chie's powerful kick. "A Substitution jutsu?" she thought frantically.

Whistling, Kaji remarked "Ya really did a number on him…"

Chie's look of alarm quickly changed to anger as she swiped at Kaji with her kunai, but he easily dodged away, landing in front of one of the doors leading out of the room. "Calm down," taunted Kaji, almost laughing. "Wasn't me who laid him out!"

With another roar of rage, Chie took out a second kunai and charged straight at Kaji.

Reforming for a moment, Akihiko realized what was about to happen. "Chie, no!" he cried.

But Chie was now committed to her strike. Before her kunai could pierce Kaji, he dove out of the way, revealing that the door behind him was ajar, a grinning clone holding it open.

Chie tried to turn after the real Kaji, but her shins were snagged on something. Glancing down, her eyes widened as she saw that it was ninja wire, held in place by two kunai on either side of the doorway. As she fell into the hallway, she also caught a fleeting look at the paper bomb on the wall, the one that Hanabi had planted earlier that Chie never knew was there. And it had begun to smoke.

"Chill out in there!" yelled Kaji's clone into the hallway as he slammed the door after her, cutting off her screams.

The paper bomb exploded, destroying the sandstone door and the clone that was in front of it. Hunkered down against the wall a few feet away, Kaji himself was left unharmed as sand and dirt was blown into the room from the blast.

Chie wasn't as lucky. The force of the detonation threw her across the hallway and through the door at the other end like a cannon, smashing into the next room where her limp and scorched body finally came to rest.

Seeing that both of his teammates were out of the fight, Akihiko growled before turning into smoke once more.

"_Nice work, Kaji,"_ thought Hanabi, who saw everything with her Byakugan. Now solely focused on Akihiko, she waited patiently for him to attack. As the smoke moved around her, Hanabi found that she could barely see the chakra signature of Akihiko distributed throughout.

Feigning weakness by turning her head, seemingly trying to find out where the next attack was going to come from, Hanabi followed the chakra signature until it began to converge at one point behind her.

"_There!"_ she thought.

Becoming solid again, Akihiko threw a punch at the back of her head, only to realize that his fist had hit nothing but air. Hanabi had telegraphed the blow, and had already turned and ducked underneath his outstretched arm. At the same time, she thrust her palm forward, connecting solidly with Akihiko's ribs, right beneath his armpit.

Akihiko gasped in pain as he immediately dropped to the ground, his breathing erratic. "Wha-what did you, do to me?" he managed to get out, unable to move.

Standing over him with her eyes narrowed, Hanabi told him "I'm surprised you couldn't figure it out for yourself. My kekkei genkai is the Byakugan, and it doesn't only allow me to see everything around me. My eyes can see your entire chakra network, and my Gentle Fist style can attack it; I just disabled most of your chakra around your lung."

"It's over," she continued, deactivating her Byakugan. "Two of your teammates are knocked out, and now you're in no condition to fight. You can't stop us from climbing that ladder now, no matter how much you want to stop us."

"Y…yes," said Akihiko, admitting defeat. "It seems…it wasn't meant to be…go."

"Don't mind if we do," said Kaji with relief, one arm clutching his stomach as he picked up his weapons that weren't bent or destroyed from the blast. "Good job as always, Hanabi-chan…" he said.

Hanabi nodded. "Same to you," she said, checking her bag to make sure the doll was still in one piece.

"Looks like we did it…" she said. "Let's not waste any more time here."

"Right," said Kaji, eyeing the ladder and the trapdoor above. "Uhh…how're we getting' Wasumaru-san up there?"

Raising an eyebrow, Hanabi looked from Wasumaru, still sitting down and drawing obliviously, then to the trapdoor, and finally to Kaji.

Sighing, Kaji stepped up to Wasumaru and crouched away from him, offering his back. "Come on Wasumaru-san; time to get outta here…"

* * *

"Baki-sensei, come in Baki-sensei: we're approaching room 4-F…" said Temari.

"Be careful; request backup on your radios if necessary," replied Baki over the static.

Making haste towards the second room their sensei wanted them to search, Kankuro took point, pushing aside the doors as they came upon them. Yutaka was in the middle with two kunai out, watching their flanks. Temari was in the rear, keeping an eye out for any genin teams, or worse, anyone that might be following them.

Reaching the door to room 4-F, Kankuro silently placed an eye to the peephole. "All clear…" he whispered to his two teammates.

"Spread out, in case there's an ambush," said Temari, a hand on her giant fan.

On his radio, Kankuro said into his radio "Entering room 4-F now," as he quickly pushed open the door.

The three chunin entered the room, weapons drawn. When no one attacked, their attention was drawn to the center of the room, where a most disturbing sight met them.

Grimacing, Kankuro opened his radio channel. "Baki-sensei…we have a problem…"

* * *

Hanabi: Despite all of the obstacles, despite all of the setbacks, it seems we've finally made our way out of the maze.

Kaji: Yeah! Man, I can't believe we got through all o'that! Now nothing'll stop us from becoming chunin!

Hanabi: Nothing except for the other genin. Now we're really going to have to prove ourselves, 'cause the next stage is one on one fighting, and our opponents could be anyone, even our own teammates.

Kaji: And those creepy guys are there too! Man, I hope I get a rematch! Next time on Naruto: Hitoshirezu Years;

The Third Stage: Prove Your Worth!

Hanabi: I could fight Hinata…right here, right now…

* * *

(Earlier in the day, Hanabi and Kaji are racing through the maze. Wasumaru is sketching on Kaji's back. Hanabi has her Byakugan active)

Kaji: Hey, Hanabi-chan?

Hanabi: Yes?

Kaji: Y'know, I've never really thought about it before, but, what's it like to be able to see everything? See 360 degrees, see through walls…must be pretty neat, huh?

Hanabi: It isn't always as good as you might think…

Kaji: Say wha? What are ya talkin' about?

(Hanabi suddenly stops, and Kaji stops right behind her)

Hanabi: *ominously* One time, I was outside of the hokage tower…

Kaji: *eyes light up* Oh?

Hanabi: *slightly embarrassed* Lady Tsunade was in her office…with someone else…

Kaji: *grinning, really interested* What?

Hanabi: And they…they…they…

Kaji: *can't contain himself* What, what, what?

Hanabi: *shaking her head vigorously* …they exchanged some top-secret documents! Oh, I had to quickly turn off my Byakugan to avoid seeing those files. I would've been in so much trouble…

Kaji: …Y'know, that was really anticlimactic…

* * *

Note from the Author: Inspiration Behind the Second Stage

For the second stage, I knew that the teams had to face a more practical challenge than a written exam, just like in the anime. But the Sand village doesn't have a forest, and having so many teams moving around in a desert isn't very stealth-like, so I came up with the idea of having an underground maze.

Two things inspired this idea; one was a BBC program called _The Crystal Maze_, where teams have to collect crystals by solving challenges and puzzles in different rooms. The other was the Canadian film called _The Cube_, where a group of strangers find themselves in a giant 15 by 15 by 15 cube maze, with many of the rooms containing gruesome death traps. The former I highly recommend taking a look at. The latter, only if you are of a proper age (rated R, nearly NC-17, so view at your own risk).

The final version of the maze that I used combined elements of both. For instance, the maze is 15 by 15; having the maze be a full cube would be too similar to the film, and it'd be hard to believe that Gaara would spend that much time and materials on the chunin exam. Besides, the genin would be lost forever in there! Instead of crystals, the genin would have to find three different pieces of a doll after solving a puzzle. And since there are a limited supply, it would enhance the competition aspect of the stage. I think the finished product turned out quite well, don't you think?

* * *

A/N: Holy crap, really? Four months? Ok, ok, so I had things to do, and work as usual, and family over, and MY COMPUTER DIED ON ME! Seriously, one moment I was watching Youtube, the next, 'poof'. The whole system shut off. Dead. Gone. Kaput. And I couldn't get it to restart. I had to get my folks to mail me the OS discs so I could reboot. Thank goodness that it automatically kept a backup of all of my files, including this fic, so no harm done, only a lot of time lost.

After the holidays, I'll try to update at a more regular pace. Thanks for reading!


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